Leeds end drought with first-half surge to beat Wolves 3-1 at Molineux
Leeds overcame Ladislav Krejci’s eighth-minute opener to earn their first Premier League away win of the season, beating Wolves 3-1 on a rain-lashed afternoon at Molineux. Goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Anton Stach and Noah Okafor arrived in a blistering 15-minute spell before half-time, turning a match that had seemed to be tilting the hosts’ way.
Daniel Farke’s side, without a top-flight goal in three games, rediscovered their cutting edge and then managed the game with assurance. Wolves, jeered off at the interval and again at full-time, could not turn a flurry of second-half pressure into a comeback, as Karl Darlow denied Marshall Munetsi and Mosquera to protect a result that lifts Leeds into the top half and leaves Wolves rooted to the bottom with five defeats from five.
From promise to panic at Molineux
Wolves struck with their first incisive move when Jackson Tchatchoua fizzed a pass into Tolu Arokodare, whose deft lay-off let Fer Lopez slide a first-time ball into the area for Krejci to lift beyond Karl Darlow. It was an accomplished sequence from three summer signings and, on Krejci’s first Molineux appearance, a finish that hinted at a measure of calm after a bruising start to the campaign.
Leeds had already warned through Gabriel Gudmundsson’s dangerous ball across the six-yard box, and the visitors answered emphatically. Calvert-Lewin rose above Mosquera to meet Jayden Bogle’s deflected cross with a looping header beyond Jose Sa for his first Premier League goal since January, a reminder of the aerial prowess that once made him one of the division’s most feared targets.
Set-piece precision and a punishing press
Eight minutes later the tide fully turned. Krejci bundled into Calvert-Lewin 20 yards out and Stach, combining precision and power, curled a wonderful free-kick into the top corner. With Jean Ricner-Bellegarde at the edge of the wall serving as little more than a mannequin, Sa was beaten before he could move.
On the stroke of the interval, Emmanuel Agbadou’s loose pass out from the back was intercepted by Stach, who immediately fed Okafor. The winger took the pass in stride and guided a low left-footer into the far corner under Sa. Okafor’s enterprise had been evident all afternoon; he attempted 14 dribbles, 12 of them before the break, the highest single-match first-half figure by any Premier League player this season.
Changes fail to shift the tide
Vitor Pereira responded with a triple change at half-time, introducing Jorgen Strand Larsen, Munetsi and Hugo Bueno. Strand Larsen, who signed a new five-year deal this week and had been sidelined by an achilles issue, offered presence alongside Arokodare, while Bueno was lively down the left. Later, Jhon Arias and Andre were also thrown on, but Leeds’ shape held.
The closest Wolves came to a lifeline was Munetsi’s looping header, superbly tipped over by Darlow, who also blocked an effort from Mosquera. Leeds adopted a more measured approach after the break, sitting in a compact block and threatening on the counter, and their two-goal cushion rarely felt under serious threat.
Storm clouds for Wolves, clear signs for Leeds
The mood at Molineux grew caustic. Boos greeted the interval and the final whistle, and chants against owners Fosun Group and chair Jeff Shi rang out, a reaction to another summer of high-profile departures. A small knot of poncho-clad supporters braved the elements in the Graham Hughes stand to the bitter end, emblematic of the frustration enveloping the club.
Defeat makes Wolves only the sixth side to lose their first five Premier League matches; of the other five, three finished bottom. Leeds, by contrast, celebrated their first away league win since a 4-2 success at this ground in March 2023 and their first Premier League away game with three first-half goals since December 2020. They host Bournemouth next, while Wolves meet Everton in the Carabao Cup before travelling to Tottenham, tasks that arrive with sharply contrasting emotions.