By Robert O'Connor, PA
Wolves’ wait for a Premier League win this season went on as they slumped to a 5-3 defeat to Brentford at the Gtech Stadium to stay rooted to the foot of the table.
A thrilling first half in west London saw six goals scored before the break with Brentford falling agonisingly short in their bid for the unprecedented feat of notching in the first minute of four consecutive league matches.
There was one minute and 15 seconds on the clock when Nathan Collins headed Thomas Frank’s team in front, but Brentford had dropped 38 points from winning positions since the start of last season and twice Wolves pegged them back, first when Matheus Cunha blasted past Mark Flekken in the fourth minute.
A Bryan Mbeumo penalty made it 2-1, moving him behind only Erling Haaland in the league’s scoring charts, before Jorgen Strand Larsen poked home a Wolves equaliser.
Thereafter Brentford took a firmer grip. Christian Norgaard finished off an excellent passing move to make it 3-2, then on the stroke of half-time atrocious marking from Gary O’Neil’s side allowed Ethan Pinnock to head in from a corner.
Fabio Carvalho and Rayan Ait-Nouri scored for either side in stoppage time at the end of the game to lend the final score a blockbuster feel.
The game had begun at a breathtaking pace, fuelled in part by home fans urging their team to prolong their remarkable run of scoring within the first 60 seconds.
Frustratingly for statisticians, that curfew had just elapsed when Mikkel Damsgaard’s cross to the near post was headed down into the bottom corner by Collins, though Brentford supporters hardly cared.
Seconds later their joy was extinguished. Nelson Semedo got in too easily for Wolves down the right, Brentford failed to clear the defender’s cut-back and Cunha pounced to rifle it into the corner.
Brentford had failed to win despite taking the lead in each of their previous three matches, and they appeared determined that another early advantage would not wither away.
From a corner Mario Lemina wrestled Collins to the ground, and after a pitch-side VAR check from referee Andrew Madley, Mbeumo clipped home his sixth goal of the season from the penalty spot.
Yet Wolves were not done, and a mad opening period took another detour. Collins carelessly gifted the ball to Ait-Nouri inside the box, he flashed it low across goal towards Strand Larsen, who with smart movement got to the ball first ahead of Pinnock and angled it into the corner.
A dizzying move of slick, one-touch passes saw Brentford retake the lead through Norgaard, the ball arriving at the feet of Vitaly Janelt who produced the final ball for the midfielder to arrow a shot into the bottom corner.
Pinnock headed in Brentford’s fourth on the stroke of half-time, given an acre of space from Damsgaard’s corner to take aim and nod the ball into the net with Wolves’ defence static.
More chances came after the break, mainly for Brentford, the most glaring when Kevin Schade ignored the obvious pass to Mbeumo and allowed Sam Johnstone to deflect his shot away.
They looked to have had the final say when substitute Carvalho tapped in a fifth in added time, but that small honour would go to Wolves, Ait-Nouri scoring through the legs of Flekken to a smattering of applause from visiting supporters.
