(Football news) In order to gain an advantage early on in the game, Wolverhampton made the most of their physical strength. In fact, they scored right away thanks to fullback Marvin Kaleta, who delivered a precise curling cross into the penalty area from the left flank. Aaron Keto-Diyawa caught the end of the cross to put it into the goal after the delivery caused a small fight inside the 18-yard box.

The Wolves made sure to apply attacking pressure from all ends of the field to test the RFYC defence as they continued their great goal-scoring form from the previous game. Arata Izumi, the coach of the RFYC, had stated on Friday that he is aware that the Wolves will arrive with a strategy to confuse the positioning of the two opponent center-backs. By giving their forwards more room to move around and by putting crosses in from the flanks, they take advantage of this and score goals.

Nathan Fraser leaping high to nod in the ball from a cross coming in from the right flank gave the Wolves a two-goal advantage in the seventh minute. Fraser, who scored twice for Wolves against Everton in their season opener, was once again in the right place at the right time as his goal allowed the visitors to extend their lead in the game.

However, RFYC showed some rekindled zeal and vim in the second period. They appeared to have slightly revised their strategies, passing the ball to larger areas to expose defensive vulnerabilities in the Wolves. The wingers also made several excellent crosses into the box, but the front line could have been more effective. In any case, the team will be happy with their improved performance towards the finish of the game and may try to build on it in their remaining tournament games.

“I don’t think that we did something wrong or that we could have done better. Definitely, what we could have done better is the approach to this game. That is something that brought us into that difficult situation with two quick goals and made our game difficult,” RFYC coach Izumi said after the match.  

He added, “Because of those two goals, probably the boys also got the feeling that we had nothing to lose – let’s play our football. That proved themselves that they can play against this opponent. So that way, I think next game against Everton, the mental preparation will be of utmost important for us

“Pleased to win the game. We got a head early, which helped, a little bit with the first goal. We had spells of pressure. Probably, in the end, there was little bit disappointment that we couldn’t win the game clearly. I thought we kept the ball well from a possession point of view in tough conditions,” Wolves coach James Collins assessed the performance of his players.

Brief Scores

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 (Aaron Keto-Diyawa 1’, Nathan Fraser 7’) – 0 Everton FC

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