Jorgen Strand Larsen scored a hat-trick as Wolves defeated League Two side Shrewsbury 6-1 to qualify for the Emirates FA Cup fourth round.
Things haven’t been easy for bottom side Wolves in a turbulent season in the Premier League, but they had a rare comfortable afternoon at Molineux to continue their recent turnaround in form, proving they are in a different class from the side fighting for their own safety three leagues below.
Strand Larsen ended a 12-game scoreless streak with the opening goal, but John Arias quickly scored his second with his second goal for the club.
Wolves spent the opening 25 minutes dithering, but the fourth-tier visitors managed to halve the gap through John Marquis’ spot-kick, but a sloppy pass from Eli Harrison gave Strand Larsen one of the easiest goals of his career.
The Norway international, who has been linked with a move from Molineux in the January transfer window, scored his first hat-trick for the club in the second period, with further goals from Rodrygo Gomez and Tolu Arrocodea helping extend Wolves’ recent unbeaten run to four games.
The hosts didn’t need to get out of second gear to take the lead in the 9th minute. Santiago Bueno broke through the Shrews defense with a perfect through ball to Hwang Hee Chan, who then played a through ball to Strand Larsen, who forced it into the empty goal.
Two minutes later, the Wolves doubled their advantage, with Strand Larsen now the creator, sending the ball to Arias, who latched on to the pass and expertly slotted it past Harrison.
Despite being relatively comfortable throughout the first quarter, Wolves gave Shrewsbury a chance to halve the lead from the penalty spot. That’s because Arias quite meekly beat Marquis inside the penalty area and stepped up before sending Sam Johnstone the wrong way.
Andre faced Strand Larsen and was unable to get his footing at the end, but Harrison’s poor clearance should have given the hosts a third goal.
But minutes later Wolves again faulted Harrison for a poor clearance, but the Shrews goalkeeper passed the ball straight to Strand Larsen, who curled the ball from distance into an empty net to restore his side’s two-goal advantage.
The Ligue 2 relegation battlers came close to securing second place, but Sam Clucas’ shot on goal was cleared on the goal line by Hugo Bueno.
Clever play between Arias and Juan then opened up space, with the former allowing Strand Larsen to easily stroke into the bottom corner for Wolves to score their fourth goal on time.
Matheus Mane has been in the spotlight since he started under Rob Edwards and made an immediate impact when introduced on the hour, feeding Strand Larsen with a cross whose header was well saved by Harrison.
Wolves showed no signs of relenting either, after Fer López’s long shot hit the post, Arrocodea collected the rebound and passed it to Gomez, who pushed in and Arrocodea capped off a dominant afternoon by tucking David Moller-Wolf’s cross into the goal.
Edwards: The wolves are starting to click.
Wolves manager Rob Edwards:
“Overall it was a good day and it was good for the supporters to celebrate some goals. It could be a difficult day, but it was a fun day.”
“In my current position, it would be foolish to make wholesale changes when the team is starting to gain momentum and the team is starting to get better.
“We really wanted to win the game. We had to try to keep the momentum going somehow. We are moving forward and slowly improving.”
“If you go back even further, we performed well and the players believed at the time. It’s good for the supporters to get a result.”
