Preston 1 (Thompson 90+1) Wolves 3 (Lopez 8 & 82, Armstrong 71)
Wolves are truly up and running in the Championship under Cesar Peixoto after a comprehensive victory at Preston North End, inspired by Fer Lopez.
The Spaniard grabbed two of the Old Gold’s three goals in Lancashire, crashing home the opener within the first ten minutes to set the tone, and stroking home the third to put the game beyond doubt.
The other strike came courtesy of Adam Armstrong, whose link-up play with Raul Jimenez was delightful, as was his low finish on an afternoon where the Old Gold ended their long wait for an away win, despite a late Jordan Thompson consolation from the hosts.
The Old Gold were backed by a tremendous 5,600 supporters in the Lancashire sun, and they only had to wait eight minutes for a chance to celebrate. Andre won the ball and fed Lopez who turned his man and, crucially, kept his footing, and was away. As the North End defenders backed off, they invited him to shoot and he duly obliged, rifling an unstoppable strike into the top corner with his left foot.
The goal gave Peixoto’s side confidence and that was evident in Jimenez’s flick from Jackson Tchatchoua’s cross which bounced just wide of the post. Wolves were largely in control during the first 45, but Toti did have to clear a Callum Lang header from near his own line.
The closest the visitors came to a second goal in the first half came when Rodrigo Gomes worked an opening himself and had a low strike saved by Daniel Iversen’s strong arm, while Mateus Mane couldn’t turn in the rebound.
Half-time | Preston 0-1 Wolves
There was work still to be done after the break and both Mane and Lopez threatened before Armstrong showed what he’s all about. Fresh from the bench, the attacker received Andre’s pass, carried it inside, exchanged a perfect one-two with Jimenez, and slotted home from close range.
The away end was a lively place in the second half, even more so after the third. That came courtesy of Lopez again. Jordan James on his debut was involved and Tommy Doyle's touch landed perfectly for Lopez to stroke home his second of the game.
The loss of a clean sheet proved the only dampener. The Old Gold didn’t clear a Preston cross properly, allowing Thompson to pick out the top corner from distance and grab a consolation which couldn’t ruin Wolves ending their long, long wait for a league win.
Full-time | Preston 1-3 Wolves
Preston | Iversen, Clarke, Lindsay (Gibson 65), Devine, McCann, Erabi (Small 66), Lang (Gryba 76), Storey, Hughes, Leroy (Thompson 77), Burgzorg.
Unused subs | Nicholls, Valentin, Vukcevic, Moran, Nolan.
Wolves | Sa, Tchatchoua, Djiga, Toti, H Bueno (Wolfe 85), Andre (Traore 76), Munetsi (Doyle 67), Lopez, Mane, Gomes (Armstrong 67), Jimenez (James 79).
Unused subs | Johnstone, S Bueno, Lima, Chirewa.
