Diogo Jota and Ruben Vinagre give the Wolves advantage as they seal first leg win over Northern Irish side Crusaders in the Europa League – The Sun

MOLINEUX didn’t just embrace European football on its return after a 39-year-absence – it planted one enormous slobbery smacker on it!

Diogo Jota’s first half opener brought the house down – a staggering 14,176 days after Mel Eves scored Wolves last goal in Europe against PSV Eindhoven in 1980.

For long spells the Premier League powerhouses made heavy weather of putting Stephen Baxter’s battling Crusaders to the sword.

However it would take a shock of Titanic proportions to sink Nuno Espirito Santo’s side when they travel to Belfast for Thursday night’s return.

Certainly none of the near 30,000 crowd who packed a sold-out Molineux last night were going to be too critical of the players who brought a bit of romance back to their lives – even if they looked a bit jet-lagged after their recent exploits in China.

For almost four decades Wolves fans have waited for the return of European competition and this eagerly anticipated reunion with a long-lost old flame.

The ‘Black and Gold,’ were pioneers of European football in the fifties, when Stan Cullis’s side were widely regarded by foreign scribes as the best team in Europe.

Tonight their supporters lapped up another liaison under the lights with unfamiliar opponents – palms sweaty, hearts beating in anticipation of another big occasion which in truth never really materialised.

Naturally enough there was some awkwardness at the start as Nuno’s side nervously fumbled about looking to rediscover their mojo.

In fact it was the visitors who flirted with the first close call of the night when Rory Hale’s long range volley zipped narrowly past Rui Patricio’s right post, following a corner.

However from that point on it was pretty much one-way traffic as the ‘best of the rest,’ in last year’s Prem tried to prise open the fourth best team in Northern Ireland.

Joao Moutino produced the home side’s first shot on target after eight minutes but goalie Sean O’Neill was alert and smothered it low to his left.

Two minutes later Wolves should have eased their early nerves by taking the lead when Leander Dendoncker robbed Sean Ward and slid in Jota.

But the Portuguese predator fluffed his chance, drilling his shot wide from inside the penalty area.

Baxter, a veteran boss of 114 years is nobody’s mug and had drilled his side expertly as they soaked up Wolves pressure.

Five men at the back, four in front of them, tucking in, frustrating their Premier rivals who resorted to taking pot-shots from further and further out.

Jota threatened with a mazy run only for Ward to slide in and block, just as he threatened to pull the trigger.

Dendoncker had a speculative shot shovelled away by O’Neill, Neves fired wide from similar range and Gibbs-White also came close before Wolves finally grabbed the breakthrough goal they craved, eight minutes from the break.

For once they showed patience as they worked the ball in midfield between Jota, Moutinho and Dendoncker who then worked it wide to Adama Traore.

The Spaniard whipped in an inviting cross which Jota smashed beyond O’Neill on the half-volley.

It was a moment every young Wolves fan will cherish – but surprisingly it turned out to be the highlight of a night when the home side ran out of steam in the sultry conditions.

Blame it on a strength-sapping pre-season trip to take part in the Asia Trophy in Shanghai – or credit Baxter’s men with a professional job, well executed.

The second half was simply more of the same as Wolves continued to snatch at half-chances or fired in shots from way too far out to concern O’Neill and his stubborn defence.

Nuno tried to shake things up by sending on last season’s top scorer Raul Jimenez, Ruben Vinagre and Romain Saiss but the pattern remained the same – until stoppage time.

Then Crusaders’ keeper Sean O’Neill had a wobble he will never forget to hand Wolves the crucial second goal they craved.

Moutinho dinked in a hopeful cross from the right and O’Neill fatally allowed the ball to bounce between him and his full-back Billy-Joe Burns before letting it slip from his grasp.

Ruben Vinagre was the beneficiary as he tapped home the simplest of finishes with virtually the last kick of the game.

Wolves still have some work to do in six days’ time on the plastic surface at Seaview in front of 3,000 predominantly home fans – rather than 30,000 of their own.

But while the Europa League is too often regarded as the ugly duckling of European competition by snobs and hipsters who despise its lengthy format, Wolves are one of the few clubs who will relish the return leg.

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