Wolves were brought crashing back down to Earth on Saturday afternoon following their 4-2 victory over Chelsea as they lost 2-0 at home to Brentford in the Premier League. It was a second home defeat on the bounce for Gary O'Neil's side, who fell to goals from Christian Norgaard and Ivan Toney in either half.
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And to make matters worse, they lost forward Matheus Cunha to an injury in the first half. The Brazilian reported a hamstring complaint before leaving the field, and O'Neil was cautious with his update despite the player's optimism.
“With Cunha it’s too early to tell, he felt something in his hamstring. He seems to think he doesn't feel too bad at this moment. But sometimes it can feel like that and be bad and sometimes they can feel bad and not be too bad.
“So let's try not to guess and let’s wait until the medical team come back with some really accurate pictures on it and hopefully we can get them both back available as soon as possible.”
O'Neil had been looking forward to unleashing a fully-fit squad before the Brentford game as Hwang Hee-chan returned from the Asian Cup with South Korea, but Hwang missed the match with a minor issue and now Cunha could face a spell out.
"Unbelievable" Cunha could be a huge miss
Speaking to GiveMeSport, reporter Dean Jones reacted to O'Neil's Cunha injury update, warning it could be a "disaster" for the manager after the player's headline-grabbing performances of late. He did, however, point out that Wolves currently sit in a pressure-free 11th place, a full 13 points clear of the relegation zone.
"It would be a disaster for Wolves to lose Cunha because he has been unbelievable. I think he is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League. I know he has been getting a few more headlines because the goals have started to come recently but, even before that, you could see that he was head and shoulders above everyone on the field at times due to his technical ability.
"Losing a player of that quality is very significant for Wolves. But there will be relief, from their point of view, that they are at least in a very comfortable position in the league at the moment. This could have been a lot worse if they were stranded towards the bottom end of the Premier League, like many people expected they would be."
Cunha was one of the league's in-form players
In terms of end product, Cunha got off to a pretty slow start this season after his £35m move from Atletico Madrid was made permanent in the summer, scoring only two goals in his first 12 appearances. However, between then and last weekend, he came alive with nine goals and six assists in 15 games, most recently netting a hat-trick against Chelsea.
Nominated for the Premier League's Player of the Month award for December, he soared into the top 10 in the division's goal involvement charts and matched Liverpool's Darwin Nunez, Man City's Phil Foden and Chelsea's Cole Palmer.
1
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool
22
=2
Erling Haaland
Man City
21
=
Ollie Watkins
Aston Villa
21
4
Son Heung-min
Spurs
18
5
Bukayo Saka
Arsenal
17
6
Cole Palmer
Chelsea
16
=7
Darwin Nunez
Liverpool
15
=7
Phil Foden
Man City
15
=7
Matheus Cunha
Wolves
15
=7
Dominic Solanke
Bournemouth
15
He was without doubt one of the most in-form players in the league, and while Hwang's return will soften the blow, Wolves fans will be gutted if the reunion of their top-scoring duo has to wait.
