Wolves picked up their first win of the season with a 1-0 win against West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday after a late goal from new signing Adama Traore, and BBC pundit Garth Crooks was blown away by keeper Rui Patricio.
In his column for the BBC, Crooks claimed that West Ham “did everything they could” on Saturday and would have won if it wasn’t for the 6ft 3in 30-year-old, who pulled off a string of impressive saves.
“His save from Michail Antonio was sensational,” Crooks said, “only to be repeated when the Portugal international stopped Marko Arnautovic from putting West Ham ahead in the first half.
“It would have been a very different scoreline had it not been for Patricio.”
OPINION
West Ham are having a terrible start to the season and manager Manuel Pellegrini must have been cursing Patricio on Saturday afternoon. It was a tight game and although perhaps not the result they were looking for, Pellegrini must have been looking forward to getting his first point on the board before Traore popped up to leave them empty handed once again. It was an error from West Ham’s Carlos Sanchez that let Traore in to give Wolves their first top-flight win since 2012. Both keepers were busy but it was Patricio who really impressed with two brilliant saves, although Fabianski proved himself when he kept out a strike from Matt Doherty. Wolves go up to ninth place after the win and West Ham remain rooted to the bottom of the table. Wolves play Burnley at home next, after the international break, followed by a tough trip to Old Trafford to play Man United.