Matheus Cunha's excellent double gives a timely boost to beleaguered O'Neil | first division

When so many have doubted him, Gary O'Neil keeps fighting. While Wolves have Matheus Cunha on hand and in such devastating form, there will always be hope for redemption.

The Brazilian's performance, with two good shots and a skillful assist, made the Wolves win twice in a row, catching Fulham cold and then kill them with a spectacular blow.

“I love working with him,” the Wolves manager said. “There is no limit to where it can go. You can't work with too many players of that quality. “I love the challenge of pushing it.”

An injury-time goal from Gonçalo Guedes completed a rout that few saw coming, although all season, even as Wolves struggled for results, there have been vital signs of quality and talent. This took them out of the relegation zone.

After breaking their duck beating Southamptonand surviving the international break that can be deadly for managers, O'Neil's job prospects, bleak for much of the season, are much more positive. “I told the players to make sure we enjoyed this,” he said. He declared his strike at Craven Cottage his favorite afternoon as Wolves head coach. “Someday, I'm sure I will be surpassed, but it definitely won't be by losing players.”

Marco Silva's team barely blinked. “A strange game,” he said, lamenting the “chances we created” and the “way we handled their goals.” They failed to reverse a desperate record that came from international breaks. Having previously won two such matches with Silva, that tasteless sequence continued.

With Storm Bert headwinds whipping across the Thames, Wolves initially looked ragged only to overpower the Fulham forwards. O'Neil is trying to reshape himself, adding flair to goalscorer João Gomes, using Mario Lemina as a deep controller while reaping the benefits of Cunha's incendiary form by giving him freedom to express himself.

“His performance out of possession was the best I've ever seen from him,” O'Neil said, praising his star man and his supporting cast. “The players deserve a lot of credit, they have never shown any flaws, despite the noise around them.”

That liberalism comes at the cost of the courage associated with O'Neil. Here were signs of the moral courage necessary to prosper in the first divisionimpersonating his manager. Matching Fulham was risky, but they looked more talented and should have been ahead before them. Raúl Jiménez, in trouble against his former club, rattled a post after Antonee Robinson's overlap.

There is no immediate problem for Fulham. Kenny Tete's pass found Alex Iwobi and gave him space, José Sá was beaten with a searing finish.

On Wolves' individual style: O'Neil's exhortations for his team to press harder and higher brought Fulham up and Lemina's playmaking skills were demonstrated with a pearlescent ball from the halfway line, using the wind to fade away in Cunha. The control was exemplary, the finishing just as good for the thirteenth away goal since the start of last season, a record only surpassed by Erling Haaland.

That was enough shock and awe in a first half that faded away. The second half began with a similar lethargy before Fulham were again surprised. Cunha, moving with intent, stabbed a pass to Gomes, whose low, skidding shot surprised Bernd Leno.

Dazed, Fulham tried to revive. Another overlap from Robinson could have set up Iwobi, only for Rayan Aït-Nouri to come to the rescue. Harry Wilson, in top scoring form latelyhe rattled the crossbar, after the ineffective Emile Smith Rowe had been replaced.

The wolves did not try to press their advantage. Instead, they left Fulham with 10 men after Joachim Anderson left with all substitutes made, completely to the sword. Cunha saved his best for almost last, finding space outside the box to beat Leno with a beauty.

“Everyone knows how important it is to us,” O'Neil said. “But it is also important to recognize the work he has done. This is not the Matheus who came to Wolves 18 months ago.”

To complete a job that made O'Neil shine during his post-match duties, burly center forward Jørgen Strand Larsen, a nuisance all afternoon, rested Guedes. The wolves could celebrate as a team full of faith and vitality for the fight ahead.