Eight minutes, and Deepdale had seen enough of Fer Lopez
Andre found him on the right touchline. Fer Lopez turned Liam Lindsay, took off down the wing, weaved into the box and hammered the ball into the net. Wolves led at Deepdale after eight minutes this afternoon and never handed the advantage back. Preston North End 1, Wolverhampton Wanderers 3.
It is Wolves’ first win of the Championship season and the clearest sign yet of what relegation from the Premier League has left them holding. Lopez has become the player their whole attack runs through, and Preston had no answer for him in either half.
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The bench settled it
Cesar Peixoto sent on Adam Armstrong just after the hour. Four minutes later Armstrong tucked away the second. Wolves had spent long stretches absorbing pressure and breaking, and one substitution turned a lead into a cushion.
Lopez got his second on 82 minutes. Jordan Thompson pulled one back for Preston in the first minute of stoppage time, a firm strike from 20 yards after Delano Burgzorg fed him, and by then the outcome had stopped being a question.
“Today we didn’t lose our identity, and we didn’t lose our organisation, for 90 minutes at a good level,” Peixoto said afterwards. “The players in the starting eleven and the players from the bench helped and improved the team.”
Preston are still waiting
The hosts remain without a win. They had their moments once Wolves dropped deeper in the closing half hour, and Thompson’s finish deserved better company, but they offered almost nothing in the opening 45 minutes of a home fixture they had marked down.
For Wolves, the summer work is starting to look coherent. Jordan James arrived on loan from Rennes this month to add legs in midfield, and a goal from a substitute is exactly the kind of contribution a squad built for promotion is supposed to produce. Three points on the road, this early, settles nothing. Peixoto has something to build from all the same.
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