Espanyol 3 Wolves 2: Watch Pedro Neto’s worst miss of all time contender as Nuno’s men reach last-16 despite loss
PEDRO NETO fired wide with one of the most amazing misses you could ever see.
But for travelling Wolves fans who remember League One away days only six seasons ago, the sight of their team’s name in a last-16 draw for a European competition is even more astonishing.
When Neto rounded Espanyol keeper Andres Prieto, the Portuguese forward had nothing but fresh air between him and the net.
Yet he somehow managed to shank his left-footed effort off target from the edge of the area.
It was a miss so bad that bookies Paddy Power paid out to punters who had bets on the Portuguese forward scoring!
Despite defeat on the night, few will back against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side going all the way in the Europa League now.
The Wolves boss said: “It’s massive for the club and city. We want to keep going. This gel between players is amazing.
“It’s a lot of hard work, which started last season, so we are proud.”
Neto looked like her wanted the ground to swallow him up after the miss
West Ham flop Jonathan Calleri scored a hat-trick as Espanyol beat WolvesWith a 4-0 lead from the first leg, Nuno felt confident enough to make five changes — including a first start for £17million striker Daniel Podence, who arrived from Olympiakos last month.
Ahead of Sunday’s trip to Spurs, key men Raul Jimenez and Ruben Neves were given a rest.
Nuno’s team scored pretty much every time they needed to in Barcelona, having already done the hard lifting at Molineux.
West Ham flop Jonathan Calleri scored a hat-trick, steering home his first from Adrian Pedrosa’s left-wing cross.
Ex-Barcelona boy Adama Traore then fired in on the rebound to level midway through the half.
Just after half-time a fight broke out between Espanyol and Wolves fans in the home end, with police and stewards moving in to intervene.
There was still little spark to the contest, although Calleri struck again from the penalty spot to restore Espanyol’s lead just before the hour after a clumsy challenge from Max Kilman.
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Wolves were determined to maintain their unbeaten European away run and equalised 11 minutes from time as Podence picked out Matt Doherty to slam in from close range.
But Argentinian striker Calleri completed his hat-trick in stoppage time by nodding beyond Patricio.
It crushed Neto after his miss moments earlier — although it mattered little by then.