Pierre Pellegri: The Pink Panther

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Wolves were starting to ease off the gas in the Premier League and the strains were showing. While they looked comfortable for a mid-table finish. It was their runs in the FA Cup and Europa League that were in real focus. Continental qualification through the two cups were seen as a realistic opportunities for wolves, and perhaps necessary to keep hold of the star players.

Meet Ade Okechukwu, the brightest prospect of Wolves' 2020 youth intake. The central defender was quick, brave and already an expert tackler. He had the potential to become Eng;and's best defender in the future but his poor Determination and Personality were major stumbling blocks. With the right people around him, he could become a world class player in the future.

Right... let's start with Premier League action. Wolves' poor league form continued as Everton completed a season doube with a win at Goodison Park. It was a game dominated by André Gomes and a deserved win for Everton. This was followed up by frustrating draws at home to Manchester United and away to Crystal Palace. Wolves made impressive starts to both games but conceded silly goals to share the points. The winless league run continues....

The FA Cup proved far more fruitful for Wolves. Spurs were the favourites at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Fifth Round clash but a Raúl Jiménez hat trick inspired Wolves to an unlikely 4-1 win. A trip to Sheffield United in the quarter final was Wolves' reward, and they stormed into the semi finals as a Jiménez double and a Jota goal inspired Pellegri's side to a 3-1 victory. It meant that a day out at Wembley awaited Wolves in April!

The European campaign continued fantastically. VfL Wolfsburg were Wolves' Lasy Sixteen opponents. Captain Conor Coady scored the only goal in a 1-0 first leg win. It was a drab game, in truth. However, the second leg was a spectacular event! Wolfsburg twice took the lead, but Wolves clawed back goals both times before Rúben Neves score in stoppage time to guarantee progression to the semi finals. The European dream continued!

Wolves' poor league form saw them drop to 13th place in the league. Top 7 looked well out of Wolves' reach, while realistically anything in the top half was going to be a challenge to achieve. A positive Goal Difference remained (just about), but Wolves were looking over their shoulder with Brighton and Watford hot on their heels.

Wolves had five big Premier League games coming up in April. First up was a trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal. Home games against Norwich, Brighton and Aston Villa were to follow before a trip to Leicester. Wolves knew they had to turn their league form around if they didn't want to slide further down the table, especially with a game against Brighton coming up.

Wolves' Europa League campaign was to continue against familiar opposition in the form of Gladbach. The German side were in Wolves' group earlier in the season, Both teams won a game each against each other in the group stage, and the quarter final clash was expected to be equally even. The first leg was to be played at the Molineux in Wolverhampton, with the second leg due in Germany.

The highlight of the upcoming month of fixtures for Wolves was an FA Cup semi final. The game was to be played against Burnley who were in 6th place in the league. Burnley were big favourites to progress to the final but Wolves under Pellegri has proven to be a big-game team. Who would win?

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Wolverhampton Wanderers booked their place in this season's FA Cup final as they defeated fellow Premier League side Burnley 3-1 in today's semifinal. Diogo Jota stole the show as he scored twice, with his second goal stunning worldwide media as he ran with the ball from his own half before scoring at the other end.

Wolves were without Kalvin Phillips, with the former Leeds player cup-tied due to his appearances in the competition prior to his move to the Molineux-based team. However, a midfield of Rúben Neves, João Moutinho and Morgan Gibbs-White was more than capable of dominating the game for Wolves.

The latter two were instrumental in Wolves' first goal of the game, which came at the twelve minute mark. Moutinho was on corner-taking duty for Pellegri's side and was creating opportunities with near-post crosses. One particular corner was picked up by Morgan Gibbs-White, who played a one-two with Conor Coady before sliding the ball beyond Nick Pope and into the far corner. Advantage Wolves.

Wolves looked more likely to score the second goal in the first half, with Neves coming close from range a number of times. However, it was his Portuguese colleagues Rúben Vinagre and Diogo Jota who linked up for the second goal, early in the second half. Jota won the ball inside Burnley's box, robbing James Tarkowski of possession, before a slick one-two with the overlapping Rúben Vinagre. With the ball at his feet six yards from goal, Jota beat Pope with an intricate chipped toe-poke of the ball to double Wolves' lead.

Raúl Jiménez had plenty of opportunities to kill off the game but couldn't get his name on the score sheet. Jiménez had a goal disallowed for offside before misfiring close range efforts wide of the mark when presented with glorious scoring opportunities. It wasn't his day in front of goal.

Burnley clawed their way back into the game with just over twenty minutes to go, with Dwight McNeil taking credit for the creation of the goal. The 20 year old left-side English winger rampaged his way beyond the challenge of Adama Traoré before sliding the ball into the path of Ashley Barnes, who had the goal at his mercy as he halved Burnley's deficit. Game on.

Diogo Jota was fired up and scored one of the goals of the season with a magnificent individual effort. Rúben Neves caught out a loose pass on the egde of his own area before picking out Jota just inside his own half. WIth his back to Tarkowski, Jota spun to his left before evading the defender's challenge and racing on towards Burnley's goal. No Burnley player could get near him as Jota then placed the ball into the far corner to seal Wolves' progression to the final.

Burnley boss Sean Dyche was graceful in defeat, praising his counterpart Pierre Pellegri for Wolves' performance. Wolves will face Manchester City in the FA Cup final next month, where Pellegri will face rival manager Pep Guardiola once again. Victory in the final would see Wolves qualify for next season's UEFA Europa League. Can they do it?

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