Wolves began their Europa League campaign with a bang after recording a 2-0 victory in the first-leg of their tie against Northern Irish side Crusaders. Ruben Vinagre netted an injury time strike to give Nuno Espirito Santo’s men a two goal advantage heading into next week.
Adama Traore operated in an unfamiliar right wing-back position but his electric performance drew plaudits from a number of the Molineux faithful.
One supporter labelled the performance his best in a Wolves shirt since joining the club last summer after they activated his £18m release clause from Championship side Middlesborough. Others called it a Man of the Match performance and wondered if there is more to him than being a one trick pony.
Wolves looked dominant in possession as you’d expect with the huge gulf between the two sides, but struggled to create too many clear opportunities to stretch the margin ahead of the returning leg. It was also the club’s first European adventure in nearly 40 years with Traore standing out the most.
It was the winger-turned-defender that provided the assist for their opening strike as his cross from deep met Diogo Jota in the box. The change of position was duly noted by a number of the Molineux crowd with one supporter claiming we were seeing Nuno work his magic by developing and changing a player right in front of his eyes. Another noted that the 23-year-old looked a totally different player from last season, calling the manager a genius.
You can read the best of the reaction from Traore’s performance below:
Nuno has put in some good work with Adama and he looks like his head and feet are more in sync – had some good crosses and an assist ⚽️
He had a shot well blocked too
Maybe more than a one trick pony and yes agree MOTM— Robbie (@MelbourneWolf) July 25, 2019
Best game he’s had in a long time all be it against poor opposition.
— Morgan Roberts (@morg69roberts) July 25, 2019
Totally agree. Hopefully that performance will shut up the doubters now. He’s clearly worked hard over the summer. ????????????
— Jan (@Jan77892722) July 25, 2019
Probably his best performance in a Wolves shirt
— Stuart Mole (@southdownswolf) July 25, 2019
Without doubt Nath????he was a menace up & down the wing & u could almost see it on his face how much more he was concentrating on his final ball which was so much better today????
— Reggie???????? (@Reggie61823972) July 25, 2019
Traore beat his man time and time again. The defender will be having nightmares for weeks ????
— Andy Bagley (@andybagley1) July 26, 2019
Fully agree nath. Totally different player from last season so far. Head was up and made the decision virtually every time. Nuno is a genius. ????
— Andrew Walker (@gasman6969) July 25, 2019
Traore looked a much better player than we’ve seen previously for sure. But to be balanced, the Crusaders left back O’Rourke had a decent game. Yeah, it was the toughest night of his life but the lad did much better than most expected. A compelling wing battle
— Rob Spicer (@vexrob) July 26, 2019
Traore last night looked so good, his crossing was quality and he wasn’t afraid to shoot hopefully he has an end product this season #wwfc
— Bendoncker (@BVitler) July 26, 2019
We're seeing Nuno work his magic developing and change a player in front of our eyes in Traore. Seems much better than last season already. #wwfc
— Baz (@Bazza1983) July 26, 2019