Wolverhampton defeated Brighton 1-0 in the round of 16 of the 2023-24 FA Cup at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England, at 4:45 a.m. on the 29th (Korea time). Wolverhampton will face Coventry City of the English Championship (Second Division) in the quarterfinals.
The home team Wolverhampton put up a 3-4-1-2 formation. Jean-Likner Belgarde and Hwang Hee-chan were placed on the two-top, and Tommy Doyle supported the attack just below. Rayan Aitnuri, Mario Lemina, Joao Gomes, and Matt Doherty worked together in the midfield. The back three was paired with Toti Gomes, Santiago Bueno, and Maximilian Kilman. The goalkeeper’s gloves were worn by Jose.
The away team Brighton launched a 3-4-2-1 formation. Ansu Fati came out on the front line, and Simone Adingra and Facundo Buonanote added strength to the attack. Pervis Estupignan, Pascal Gross, Cameron Pupion and Jakub Moder came out to the midfield, and the defensive line was in charge of Igor Juliou, Luis Dunk, and Jan Paul Van Hekke. The goal was defended by Jason Steele.
Preview
Until the beginning of the season, there were few expectations that Wolverhampton would finish in the middle. Wolverhampton replaced Julen Lopetegui and appointed Gary O’Neill a week before the opening. However, O’Neill quickly stabilized the team and boosted its teamwork. As a result, Wolverhampton was placed in the middle of the league.
It is 3-2 in five recent official matches. Wolverhampton won 2-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup in England against West Bromwich Albion (WBA), but lost 3-4 to Manchester United. Matheus Cunha scored a hat-trick to win 4-2 against Chelsea, but he knelt 0-2 against Brentford. Fortunately, he made it onto the road to Tottenham Hotspur in the last round and secured a double with a 2-1 victory.
What’s more favorable for Wolverhampton is that Hwang Hee-chan has returned. Hwang Hee-chan, who was called up to the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup, made a comeback through a showdown with Tottenham on the 18th. In the last round, he was also selected against Sheffield United. He will be on the starting list for three consecutive games until the match against Brighton.
Hwang Hee-chan’s toes are very important for Wolverhampton to perform well. Hwang Hee-chan is flying. This season, he is ranked eighth in the overall PL scoring rankings with 10 goals and 3 assists in the league.
In an official interview with the club after the match against Tottenham, Hwang Hee-chan said, “Not 100 percent yet. I returned to training this week and started training with the team. Nevertheless, I think our performance is great. I am proud to help the team win. I will continue to try to produce good results.”
“I definitely wanted to score. I wanted to do well because there were many Korean fans, but I was so happy that my team got the result that I wanted in the end. It was a good result to get three points against the strong team,” he added.
Meanwhile, Wolverhampton advanced to the fourth round in the third round of the English FA Cup against Brentford with a 1-1 win in the first and 3-2 in the second round, and in the fourth round, they met West Bromwich Albion (WBA) and reached the round of 16 with a 2-0 win.
Hwang Hee-chan has been having his best season since moving to Wolverhampton, but he still felt thirsty. He mentioned, “I think if we try our best in every game to achieve our goals, the results will follow. But we can never be complacent or satisfied with the status quo. We have to keep improving and set higher goals, and we are talking about what we need to do to improve.”
Source: 토토사이트