WOLVERHAMPTON, England (Reuters) – Wolverhampton Wanderers’ boosted their chances of European football next season as they held off a resurgent Leicester City to secure a 2-1 win at the Molineux in the Premier League on Sunday.
The home side got off to the perfect start when Ruben Neves fired them in front in the ninth minute with a superb strike from the edge of the box after being teed up by Raul Jimenez.
Rayan Ait-Nouri came close to doubling their lead in the 24th minute following some deft footwork by Daniel Podence, but the Frenchman’s effort flashed wide before Leicester sliced Wolves open with a slick team move to equalise before half-time.
Ademola Lookman put the ball in the back of the net but the goal was created by Youri Tielemans, who threaded a fine pass to Marc Albrighton before the winger squared it to Lookman.
Leicester carried that momentum into the second half but Wolves struck against the run of play in the 66th minute when Podence’s low drive from outside the area beat Kasper Schmeichel.
The win lifted Wolves to seventh in the standings on 40 points after 24 games. Leicester remain in 11th place on 27 points.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
