West Bromwich Albion striker Peter Odemwingie has plunged Wolves into the Premier League relegation zone as his hat-trick inspired a 5-1 rout in the ‘Black Country’ derby at Molineux.
Nigerian star Odemwingie opened the scoring in the first half before Wolves forward Steven equalised on the stroke of half-time on Sunday.
Jonas Olsson restored the Baggies’ lead after a woeful blunder by Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey and Odemwingie put Albion in total control with the third.
Keith Andrews netted the fourth in the closing stages and Odemwingie completed his treble moments later to seal Albion’s biggest win at Molineux since 1962.
Albion are now eight points clear of the relegation zone, while Wolves slump into the bottom three, below Blackburn on goal difference.
Mick McCarthy’s men were booed off at fulltime and several fans vented their anger towards owner Steve Morgan and chief executive Jez Moxey in the directors box in the closing stages.
Albion were on top from the start and Hennessey denied winger Jerome Thomas at point blank range.
Hennessey also kept out an effort from Liam Ridgewell, while Odemwingie’s fierce drive was pushed away by the Wales goalkeeper.
Hennessey produced his second top class save of the half to turn over a deflected drive from Paul Scharner after a mistake by Sebastien Bassong.
But it came as no surprise when Odemwingie broke the deadlock after 34 minutes when his shot took a deflection off Dave Edwards.
Wolves equalised against the run of play in first half stoppage time as Fletcher combined with Ebanks-Blake before beating Ben Foster with a cool finish.
McCarthy’s team pushed hard early in the second half and Fletcher’s 20 yard drive was deflected just wide with Foster scrambling across his line.
But from James Morrison’s corner, Albion regained the lead through Olsson in the 64th minute.
Johnson came close to equalising when his header was cleared off the line by Fabrice Mulumbu via the underside of the bar.
Odemwingie struck for the second time in the 77th minute to shatter Wolves’ hopes of a comeback before former Wolves midfielder Andrews made it 4-1 with a deflected low drive, Odemwingie completing his hat-trick from a Morrison cross three minutes later.
