Vítor Pereira's Wolves reign gets off to a good start against fragile Leicester | first division

It took less than 45 minutes of Vítor Pereira's tenure at Wolves for the fans to sing his name as they watched his new team thrash Leicester. The Portuguese, however, will want to take note of their counterpart, Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has gone from winning his first match to being booed in less than three weeks.

The atmosphere at Wolves has been dark in recent weeks. Mario Lemina lost the captaincy after an altercation with West Ham's Jarrod BowenMatheus Cunha was accused by the Football Association for venting his anger last weekend at shows belonging to a member of Ipswich staff and Gary O'Neil paid with your work for getting only nine points in 16 games, but that was forgotten here.

The Wolves enjoyed greater cohesion, but were aided by a confused and fragile defense. First-half goals from Gonçalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes and Cunha were avoidable, but substitute goalkeeper Danny Ward, in his first start in the league since March 2023, was the center of the home fans' ire, conceding sarcastic cheers when you successfully completed the simplest of tasks that will hurt your pride.

Leicester owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha threw stuffed foxes and scarves at fans before kick-off, but his defense was even more generous, taking much of the festive spirit out of those in blue.

It has been Pereira's dream manage in the Premier League. He has come close on several occasions over the last 15 years but has had to jump between 12 clubs and seven countries before landing in Wolverhampton. His first selection indicated one of the reasons he was named: there were eight native Portuguese speakers in his XI.

O'Neil failed to address the defensive issues; Wolves had sent 40 in 16 games, but now Leicester have only conceded three fewer. Matt Doherty, making his 300th league appearance for the visitors, was part of a centre-back trio and helped José Sá have a quiet day. The Wolves learned on the job under Pereira, but were composed and confident from the start. “It is very important (to have a clean sheet) because we need to regain confidence, we need to regain confidence in the way we defend and try to improve game by game and in training,” Pereira said.

Leicester took on the role of their opponents' most inept defense by conceding the tamest early goals. Nélson Semedo made a pass into the area, but Jannik Vestergaard couldn't deal with it and almost ducked, allowing Guedes to contain Conor Coady and direct the ball towards Ward, who took too long to react.

Van Nistelrooy got four points in his first two games, but 4-0 defeat at Newcastle and the constant errors here have given a more realistic picture of the danger Leicester are in.

James Justin was the next Foxes defender to make a terrible decision when he let a Doherty pass into the box where Gomes was surprised to receive it, allowing him to put it into the net for his first goal for the club.

Wolves are used to hearing boos, but for the first time it was the opposition's fans who were mocked as they moved two points behind Leicester, who sit one place above the relegation zone. Cunha added the third amid weaker defense and unconvincing goalkeeping when the ball sailed through Ward's hands to instigate Pereira chants. “Fantastic feeling,” the manager said upon hearing his name. “I asked the players before the game that at the end of the game we should be proud of what we did on the field and we should make our fans proud. “We can’t win alone, we need you to help us.”

When Ward replaced the injured Mads Hermansen against Newcastle last week, he conceded three goals in 15 minutes. The defense was once again nervous without its first choice, but was equally to blame for the problems at the back, performing a brief post-mortem with its hands on its hips after each goal.

Van Nistelrooy said of Ward's treatment: “We all understand the public's disappointment, but it shouldn't all fall on one player. Booing or being disappointed with the result, I think it's a fan's right, a supporter's right, to show their emotions, and we all do it, but when it really goes towards a person that's something that's hard for me to see. personally. I think he kept his composure very well; It's not easy when something like this happens. I think he handled it very well. It must be difficult for him. Hopefully I can change things quickly.”

The match was a reminder of how quickly things can change in football; There is a lot of time left in the roller coaster of relegation that both teams find themselves on.