Brighton took advantage of an inept and toothless display from Wolves to earn a convincing 3-0 Premier League victory away from home on Saturday afternoon.

In a first half which ebbed and flowed as both sides flooded players back to defend the slightest hint of any attacking threat, Wolves blinked first.

Romain Saiss had his arms by his sides but couldn’t resist the temptation to lean into a cross, blocking the ball with plenty of cover behind him. Alexis Mac Allister pardoned Saiss‘ indiscretion by striking the post with the subsequent spot-kick.

Yet, rather than losing hope, Brighton’s failure from 12 yards only emboldened the Seagulls. Danny Welbeck tumbled over Willy Boly’s leg to win a second penalty in less than ten minutes. Shaking off his earlier miss, Mac Allister snuck his conversion through Jose Sa’s grasp.

Alexis Mac Allister has redeemed him-self, netting Brighton’s second penalty of the day after he missed their first! ?

The Seagulls now lead 1-0 at Molineux! pic.twitter.com/iKdZkyDqzR

— 90min (@90min_Football) April 30, 2022

Bruno Lage made a pair of changes at half-time, bringing on both Raul Jimenez and Pedro Neto. Yet, if anything, this alteration preceded Wolves‘ worst spell of the match immediately after the restart.

While Wolves huffed and puffed but repeatedly ran into a blue and white brick wall, Brighton were happy to pounce on the counter. Leandro Trossard doubled his side’s lead with 20 minutes to play from one such surge. Taking his time in the penalty area, Trossard twisted into space for a shot which he fizzed into the bottom corner.

A sarcastic round of applause rang around an emptying Molineux as Boly tamely nodded Wolves‘ first shot on target of the match into Robert Sanchez’s gloves after a desperately poor 85 minutes.

The exodus was accelerated as Yves Bissouma got Brighton’s third with four minutes to play, sending a worm-burner of a low strike into the bottom corner. Pedro Neto struck the post with the last kick of the game as Wolves slumped to a third consecutive, goalless defeat.

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GK: Jose Sa – 5/10 – Got an agonising touch to the second penalty which wasn’t enough.

CB: Willy Boly – 3/10 – Sluggish when ceding the game-changing spot-kick.

CB: Conor Coady – 4/10 – Caught high up the pitch which exposed the stark contrast in pace between Coady and Welbeck.

CB: Romain Saiss – 3/10 – Needlessly reached out a straight arm to give away a penalty which may not have been converted but was still reckless.

RWB: Nelson Semedo – 4/10 – Skirted around the fringes of the contest before hobbling off early in the second half.

CM: Leander Dendoncker – 5/10 – Had his first-half surges dialled back after the rejig during the interval.

CM: Ruben Neves – 5/10 – In a surprisingly early return from injury, Neves only lasted until half-time on a subdued outing.

CM: Joao Moutinho – 6/10 – Peppered the match with some gasp-inducing, raking passes.

LWB: Rayan Ait-Nouri – 4/10 – Wasteful and ponderous when he found himself high up the pitch.

ST: Fabio Silva – 3/10 – Failed to offer any semblance of incision or finishing edge before getting hooked off at the break.

ST: Hwang Hee-chan – 5/10 – Improved when Bruno Lage tweaked his position midway through the first half to pull wider, giving him more space to wriggle into.

SUB: Raul Jimenez (46′ for Silva) – 5/10 – Brought more endeavour than end-product.

SUB: Pedro Neto (46′ for Neves) – 6/10 – Tossed in a couple of crosses which weren’t connected with and struck the woodwork in a bright but ultimately insufficient cameo.

SUB: Jonny Otto (53′ for Semedo) – 5/10

NO MISTAKE THIS TIME! ? pic.twitter.com/E8QBIySw50

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) April 30, 2022

GK: Robert Sanchez – 6/10 – Given precious little to do.

CB: Joel Veltman – 7/10 – Stepping out of defence safe in the knowledge of two centre-backs behind him, Veltman cruised through the afternoon.

CB: Lewis Dunk – 8/10 – On the rare occasions Wolves managed to tempt the ball near Brighton’s six-yard box, the skipper’s head or boot (or any available part of his body) was there.

CB: Marc Cucurella – 8/10 – Superb on and particularly off the ball. Everywhere a gold shirt turned in Brighton’s defensive third, Cucurella’s chestnut mop of hair was invariably brushing against them.

RWB: Solly March – 6/10 – The more defensively minded of Brighton’s wingbacks, March wasn’t as much of a threat going forward but carried out his defensive duties comfortably enough.

CM: Enock Mwepu – 6/10 – Bounding forward to join Brighton’s front line, Mwepu wasn’t shy in letting rip before injury forced him off after an hour.

CM: Yves Bissouma – 8/10 – Subtly went about his business before marking his return from a two-game suspension with a well-struck strike.

CM: Moises Caicedo – 7/10 – Coolly mopping up and knitting together the play in midfield.

LWB: Leandro Trossard – 7/10 – Never rushed in possession, at times Trossard’s ease on the ball can come across as dawdling but served him well when working an opening for his goal.

ST: Alexis Mac Allister – 7/10 – Demonstrated remarkable nerve to step back up to the spot with the sound of the post still rattling in his ears.

ST: Danny Welbeck – 7/10 – Produced a devilish flick around Coady which earned the centre-back a yellow card as he clearly established his fleet of foot against the Wolves backline.

SUB: Adam Webster (63′ for Mwepu) – 6/10

SUB: Tariq Lamptey (87′ for March) – N/A

SUB: Pascal Gross (89′ for Trossard) – N/A