Wolverhampton Wanderers v Espanyol Live Commentary & Result, 20/02/2020, UEFA Europa League

That's all from us today folks, we hope you enjoyed the game!

Wolves will return to Premier League action at the weekend, as they face Norwich City, before travelling to Barcelona for the return leg next Thursday. Meanwhile Espanyol are back in LaLiga action, with a crucial game at Real Valladolid on Sunday.

Wolves get the job done in the first leg of their Europa League clash against Espanyol, wrapping up a 4-0 victory, thanks to a hat-trick from Jota and a fantastic volley by Neves. The hosts led 1-0 at the break and despite Wu Lei going close on a couple of occasions, they managed to double their lead through Neves, before two more goals by Jota clinched a famous win at Molineux.

90' + 3' FULL-TIME: WOLVES 4-0 ESPANYOL

90' + 2' Those Wolves supporters heading to Barcelona next week will surely see their side clinch victory, especially if they can get an away goal early on.

90' There will be a minimum of three minutes added time played.

89' The pace has dropped significantly in these final few minutes, with Wolves just controlling possession and trying to push forward on the counter when they can.

87' There are a few tired Espanyol players out there now, they'll be hoping to hear the final whistle as soon as possible, so they re-group and turn their attentions back to LaLiga.

85' The last time Espanyol were in the knockout stages of a major European competition they ended up reaching the final, eventually losing on penalties against Sevilla in the 2006-07 UEFA Cup.

Daniel Podence

Diogo Jota

83' That's the final piece of action for Jota, he's the last Wolves substitution, with Podence his replacement.

João Moutinho

Assist

81' It was another quick break from Wolves, with Moutinho spraying the ball out wide to Jota, who did the rest with an excellent finish.

Diogo Jota

Goal

81' GOOOAAALLL! That's the hat-trick for Jota, he makes it 4-0! The winger cuts in from the left wing, beats a couple of defenders and then powers the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

80' There's just 10 minutes, plus any additional time left to play at Molineux, will we see any more goals here? Wolves certainly look the more likely to score again.

Víctor Sánchez

Yellow Card

78' Sanchez is booked for a blatant foul on Jota as the winger tried to break into the Espanyol penalty area.

77' OFF THE POST! Superb strike by Neto from long range, with only the woodwork denying the substitute. It was a poor back pass by Darder which allowed Neto to pick it up and run at goal, firing it towards the top right-hand corner, but it hit the outside of the post and out of play.

Darder

Víctor Gómez

75' Third and final Espanyol substitution now, with Gomez limping off and he has been replaced by Darder.

Pedro Neto

R. Jiménez

75' Another Wolves substitution as Jimenez heads off the pitch and he has been replaced by Neto.

74' Wolves have looked dangerous from corners so far and Moutinho just delivered another wonderful delivery, but no-one was able to get on the end of it.

72' There's a bit of confusion around Molineux as Wu Lei's number appears on the fourth officials board, but then the Espanyol management change their mind and he now appears to be staying on the pitch.

71' Good effort! Wu Lei with another strong chance for Espanyol, this time a low strike towards goal, but Patricio gets down quickly and makes a good stop.

69' Surely it's all about getting an away goal for Espanyol now, with Wolves needing to be careful at the back as that could open the game back up.

M. Doherty

Assist

67' Doherty gets forward down the right wing, into the space vacated by Traore and feeds Jota in the box, who stays strong to beat his marker and produce a fine finish.

Diogo Jota

Goal

67' GOOOAAALLL! Jota makes it 3-0 to Wolves! Another goal for Jota and that's surely the game wrapped up now and sets up Wolves very nicely for the return leg next week. It's lovely build-up play between Doherty and Jimenez, with the right-back then playing the ball through the Espanyol defence to Jota, who smashes it into the top corner of the net, with a slight deflection taking it out of the path of Prieto.

Víctor Gómez

Yellow Card

67' Victor Gomez is booked after he drags Jota down as the winger looked to break forward. Both players go down as Jota's arm strikes the Espanyol man in the face as he tries to shrug him off.

66' The game has become a little scrappy in the last few minutes, with the substitutions slowing the game down as both teams trade possession.

64' In a run stretching back to October 1973, Wolves have won nine of their last 10 home games in all European competitions - losing only against Braga on matchday one this season.

J. Calleri

Melendo

62' The other Espanyol change sees Melendo come off the pitch and he has been replaced by Calleri.

David López

Iturraspe

61' Espanyol have made a double substitution, with Iturraspe replaced by David Lopez.

L. Dendoncker

Adama Traoré

61' Here is the Wolves substitution, with Traore heading off the pitch and he has been replaced by Dendoncker.

60' It looks like Wolves are getting ready to make their first change of the game, with Dendoncker almost ready on the sidelines, so it looks like they will be trying to secure things up at the back.

58' Gomez goes for the spectacular from long range, but his powerful strike flies well over the Wolves crossbar and doesn't trouble Patricio.

57' Traore has got into some excellent positions in the final third so far, but his final pass or shot had been poor and a chance has gone away.

55' CHANCE! Wu Lei with another opportunity to score for Espanyol! The forward once again got ahead of his marker and powered a header towards the bottom corner, but it flies just wide of Patricio's post.

54' The home supporters are making a huge amount of noise now, they sense victory here and their side look very good value for money.

Rúben Neves

Goal

52' GOOOAAALLL! What a goal by Neves! Wolves double their lead, it's 2-0! Espanyol thought they'd cleared the danger, as the ball flies out to Neves on the edge of the box, but Neves chests it down and then volleys it straight into the top left-hand corner of the net. Terrific volley by the midfielder, with Prieto having no chance of saving it!

51' Espanyol’s only previous meeting with English opponents was in the second round of the 1961-62 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, eliminating Birmingham City 5-3 on aggregate (0-1 away, 5-2 at home).

49' CHANCE! Wu Lei goes close to getting Espanyol back into the game, after Melendo whips a lovely cross into the box and Wu Lei rises highest in the box and tries to glance the ball into the far right-hand corner of the net, but it flies narrowly wide of the post.

48' Good start to the second half here by Espanyol, they are keeping the ball nicely in the Wolves half, but the hosts look very comfortable and apart from the Patricio blunder in the opening half, they haven't had much to deal with.

46' The second half is underway!

Wolves have dominated much of the first half, having the better of the chances and seeing more of the ball, but they've only managed to score the one goal and Espanyol will know that an away goal here could be crucial.

Wolves lead 1-0 at the break, after a good finish by Jota in the box, following a lovely flick on by Jimenez at the near post from a corner and Jota got on the end of it, with his shot taking a slight deflection off the back of Sanchez and it flies into the back of the net. Traore went close to doubling their lead just a few minutes later, but was denied by Prieto. Meanwhile a blunder from Patricio almost gifted Espanyol an equaliser. The visitors could count themselves lucky to still have 11 men on the pitch, after Iturraspe was involved with an alteraction with Jota just before the break.

45' + 3' HALF-TIME: WOLVES 1-0 ESPANYOL

45' + 2' The red card incident has certainly rattled a few of the Wolves players and the home supporters are venting their frustrations at the officials.

45' There will be a minimum of three minutes added time played.

44' VAR REVIEW! The officials are looking at the Iturraspe incident, seeing if they need to change the decision to a red card. However, they agree with the decision on the pitch and the original decision stands. Yellow card.

João Moutinho

Yellow Card

44' Moutinho is booked for appealing the yellow card decision.

Iturraspe

Yellow Card

43' Iturraspe is just shown a yellow card after a clash with Jota, the Espanyol man fouls Jota and the Wolves winger reacts angrily and the two clash heads, with Iturraspe appearing to lunge forward with his head. However, only a yellow is shown, despite the appeals from the Wolves players.

41' The pace of the game has dropped slightly in the last few minutes, as both teams look towards the break. Can Espanyol get back into the game before the half-time whistle?

39' Warning for Coady. The Wolves skipper dives into the back of Ferreyra and doesn't get anywhere near the ball, but he only gets a warning from the referee.

38' The attacking threat of Doherty and Traore down the right wing is really threatening Espanyol at the moment, with both players sprinting forward at every opportunity.

36' There is an excellent pace to the game, it's end-to-end at the moment, with both teams pushing forward, but lacking quality in the final third.

34' Huge let off for Wolves, that was the perfect opportunity for Espanyol to score their away goal, which are vital in this competition.

32' CHANCE! Massive error by Neves and Patricio for Wolves and they almost let Ferreyra in. Neves plays a poor backpass to his keeper and Patricio miss kicks the ball as Ferreyra chases him down. Patricio then tries to make up for his mistake with another clearance, but he misses again and Ferreyra has a clear shot at goal from just a few yards out. However, Patricio does brilliantly to react and make a diving save, before pouncing on the ball as it trickled towards the line.

31' We're past the half an hour mark now at Molineux and Wolves still lead 1-0, after a close range strike by Jota.

29' Wolves’ only previous meeting with Spanish opponents came in the 1959-60 European Cup quarter-final, where they were eliminated by Barcelona 2-9 on aggregate (0-4 away, 2-5 at home).

27' The hosts look very dangerous on the counter, with Traore and Jimenez using their pace to stretch the Espanyol backline, who haven't coped very well with their threats so far.

25' Espanyol are seeing plenty of the ball now, much more possession than they have had so far tonight. However, Wolves look comfortable at the back.

23' Wolves have everyone back in their own half at the moment, trying to soak up the Espanyol pressure, which results in Melendo having a shot from long range, but it's blocked by Moutinho and goes out of play for a corner.

21' Stoppage in play here as Prieto is down injured following his save to deny Traore, the keeper got an accidental knee in the face during the chance. However, it looks like he will be fine to continue.

19' CHANCE! Almost a second goal for Wolves! Traore is played through on goal by Jimenez and he only had the keeper to beat after racing to the ball first, however, Prieto makes himself big and pulls off a superb save.

17' Wolves will be hoping to double their lead quickly here and take a comfortable result to Spain next week in the second leg.

R. Jiménez

Assist

15' Jimenez does brilliantly to beat his man at the near post from the corner and flicks the ball straight into the path of Jota in the six yard box.

Diogo Jota

Goal

15' GOOOAAALLL! Wolves take the lead, it's 1-0! Lovely flick on by Jimenez at the near post as a corner from Moutinho is whipped towards the near post and Jota is in the right place, at the right time, to slide the ball into the back of the net from close range. It takes a big deflection off Sanchez on its way on though.

13' Including qualifiers, Jimenez has been involved in 12 goals in his 11 games in European competition for Wolves this season, scoring nine and assisting three.

11' Espanyol have grown into the game in the last few minutes, but Wolves look the more dangerous side so far. The visitors seem to have one eye on the weekends LaLiga game given their team selection.

9' Wild effort! Wolves take a corner shot, the ball finds its way to Neves, who goals for goal from 30 yards out, but his effort flies high over the Espanyol crossbar.

7' There is a cracking atmosphere inside Molineux, with both sets of fans making their voices heard, especially the travelling Espanyol supporters, who haven't had much to cheer about in LaLiga this season.

5' CHANCE! Good opportunity early on for Espanyol after they break forward quickly and release Vargas down the left wing, he chips a deep cross into the box, towards Wu Lei at the far post, who just reaches it before it goes out of play and forces Patricio into making a save at his near post.

3' It's all Wolves in these early few minutes, the hosts are keeping the ball nicely in the middle of the pitch, making Espanyol do all of the running.

1' We're under way!

The teams are out at Molineux and kick-off is just a few minutes away, stay tuned for all of the match action!

Meanwhile Espanyol have made wholesale changes, with just Victor Sanchez remaining in the starting line-up from the side that drew with Sevilla in LaLiga on Sunday.

Wolves have made two changes from the side that drew with Leicester last time out, with Dendoncker and Neto dropping to the bench and they have been replaced by Moutinho and Traore in the starting line-up.

ESPANYOL SUBS: Adria Pedrosa, Adrian Embarba, Sergi Darder, David Lopez, Leandro Cabrera, Jonathan Calleri, Diego Lopez.

ESPANYOL (4-2-3-1): Andres Prieto; Victor Gomez, Naldo, Fernando Calero, Didac Vila; Ander Iturraspe, Victor Sanchez; Oscar Melendo, Matias Vargas, Wu Lei; Facundo Ferreyra.

WOLVES SUBS: John Ruddy, Pedro Neto, Leonardo Campana, Maximilian Kilman, Leander Dendoncker, Bruno Jordao, Daniel Podence.

WOLVES (3-4-2-1): Rui Patricio; Willy Boly, Conor Coady, Romain Saiss; Matt Doherty, Joao Moutinho, Ruben Neves, Jonny; Adama Traore, Diogo Jota; Raul Jimenez.

Espanyol are rock bottom of LaLiga, two points from safety, however, they have picked up four points in their last two games, beating Mallorca and drawing 2-2 with Sevilla.

Wolves are winless in their last two Premier League games, with draws against Manchester United and Leicester City, which sees them sit eighth in the table. They will be hoping for a return to winning ways tonight, to give themselves the advantage ahead of the return fixture next week, whilst also trying to prevent the visitors from scoring an away goal.

Hello and welcome to our LIVE match commentary of the Europa League clash between Wolves and Espanyol at Molineux.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Espanyol Live Commentary, 20/02/2020

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