Persistence eventually paid off for Wolverhampton Wanderers in a game that was not one for the purists. There was more pace and puff than class and creativity throughout but the first half, in particular, showed the scale of the work ahead for Martin O'Neill and Mick McCarthy. The latter's side were more of a goal threat with Steven Fletcher and Kevin Doyle combining at the head of his 4-4-2 formation but both team's play betrayed the importance of the result. There was no controlled possession and too often the ball was projected forward into safe areas.
Eric Black had selected a back-four of Manchester United old boys and Wolves set out to test their heading with a steady stream of high crosses into the box. Sunderland have scoring problems whereas Wolves have been conceding goals too readily. Wolves' major creative force Matt Jarvis was stationed wide and looked to make progress behind the full-backs but by contrast Stéphane Sessègnon, a clever ball player, was more narrowly deployed and made fewer attacking thrusts.
Kieran Richardson's powerful, swerving shot countering Wolves' corner was indicative of the cut and thrust, end-to-end nature of the game. In central midfield Sunderland's Jack Colback and Lee Cattermole were less adventurous than their immediate opponents, Dave Edwards and Jamie O'Hara, who left their centre-backs with less protection. Wolves powered forward and left gaps but eventually their gung-ho mentality won the day.
The genial O'Neill will be happy with his centre-backs, the form of his goalkeeper, Keiren Westwood, and his competitive central midfielders but it is up front where his problems lie. Sebastian Larsson grafts and crosses well. Sessegnon dribbles, but takes one touch too many and has limited vision while his strike pairing must be coached to play together.
Ji Dong-won and Nicklas Bendtner must be more aware of when to take the ball from the midfield, alternate their runs more and drag the centre-backs out of position. Playing up against Christophe Berra and Jody Craddock merely produced a battle which suited the Wolves' defenders more. Ji and Bendtner will create more goal chances for the midfielders if they make space and stretch the centre-halves. Without pace out wide O'Neill will know that he has to create more shooting chances for his midfielders in this manner by instructing one forward to "show" for the ball and the other to make runs behind.
