Diogo Jota followed up his recent first call to the Portuguese national side by helping Wolverhampton Wanderers to beat Manchester United for the second time in less than three weeks.
Just as when the sides met in the FA Cup last month, the game ended 2-1 to the hosts and once again Jota found the net for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side, this time in the Premier League. The former Porto man finished well from inside the box on 25 minutes to cancel out Scott McTominay’s opener for United, and an own goal from Chris Smalling gave Wolves the points late on.
Wolves boss Nuno fielded Rui Patrício, Rúben Vinagre, João Moutinho, Rúben Neves and Jota for the match, while Ivan Cavaleiro was a late substitute and hit the bar after fashioning a good chance for himself. Speaking after the match, the Portuguese coach said he was happy with his side’s response to going behind against a United team containing Diogo Dalot.
“The way the team reacted to conceding the goal (was pleasing), we know to concede a goal there’s a mistake and if you do it again then it’s game over, you cannot come back, so stay in the game,” he said. “Staying compact and organised is important, but the way the team went forward was amazing.
“Of course, we must react (after conceding). The moment that we concede a goal, we must react immediately. We were playing against a fantastic team and if you allow them to have situations, then we are in trouble. But, I think from there on we controlled the game very, very well.“
"To bounce back is important, it requires an extra effort from the boys and they gave us it today and I’m really pleased. What the boys did today was amazing, it’s not easy to win two times against such a good team.”
Just “one more win” – Jota
Wolves star man Jota, who has been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur in recent weeks, was keen to remain calm when receiving his Man of the Match award. “It is one more win,” he sold Sky Sports. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s against Manchester United - we have three more points.
“They started the game very intense, trying to provoke mistakes with balls over our back, and we conceded a goal. But we demonstrated to the people that we can make a comeback, and we are happy with that. We know top seven is one of the highest positions in the table, it is important to reach that place. But we are not obsessed. Every match is hard and we are going game by game. Now we are looking forward to the semi-final.”
Jota was again paired with strike partner Raul Jimenez, with the duo developing an understanding that has been a key aspect of Wolves’ strong performances so far this season. Mexican forward Jimenez told Sky Sports: “I think it’s been a very good partnership from the middle of the season until now. We are making goals and assists, but without other teammates this is not possible.”
Nuno agreed, adding: “It’s very good. It’s what I call society, the two players, the more time they spend together, every training session and in the competition, things come out. Mutual knowledge is important but knowing each other’s tasks and moments to go is important and I’m pleased for them.”
By Sean Gillen
