It took less than 45 minutes of his tenure at Wolves for fans to chant Vítor Pereira’s name as he witnessed his new team’s win over Leicester. However, the Portuguese will want to take note of his counterpart Ruud van Nistelrooy, who went from triumphing in his first game as manager to being booed in less than three weeks.

The atmosphere at Wolves has been grim in recent weeks. Mario Lemina lost the captaincy after an altercation with West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, Matheus Cunha was charged by the Football Association for taking out his anger on an Ipswich staff member’s glasses last weekend and Gary O’Neil paid for just nine Points secured 16 games with his job but that was forgotten at the King Power Stadium.

Wolves had greater cohesion at Leicester, but they were supported by a confused and fragile defense. The goals from Gonçalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes and Cunha were all avoidable. Leicester owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha tossed fans soft fox toys and scarves before kick-off, but his defense was even more generous, taking away much of the blue players’ festive spirit.

It was Pereira’s dream to make it in the Premier League and he came close to it several times over the last 15 years, but he had to move between 13 clubs and seven countries before landing at Wolverhampton. His first team selection was one of the reasons for his appointment; There were eight native Portuguese speakers in his Wolves first XI.

O’Neil failed to address defensive issues; Wolves had conceded 40 goals in 16 games, but Leicester have now conceded just three fewer goals. Matt Doherty, making his 300th league appearance for the club, was part of a centre-back trio to help José Sá have a rare quiet day. Under Pereira’s guidance, the Wolves learned on the job, but were composed and confident from the start.

Leicester took on the mantle of the most inept defense from their opponents by conceding the most modest of opening goals. Nélson Semedo threw a pass into the box, but Jannik Vestergaard failed to clear it and almost ducked under it, allowing Guedes to fend off Conor Coady and steer the ball under Danny Ward, whose slowness to shoot showed why This was his first league start since March 2023.

Van Nistelrooy picked up four points from his first two games, but a 4-0 defeat at Newcastle and constant errors against Wolves have given a more realistic picture of the danger facing Leicester. James Justin was the next Foxes defender to make a terrible decision when he allowed a pass from Doherty to run into the box, where Gomes was surprised to receive it and direct it into the net to score his first goal for the club.

Wolves are used to hearing boos but for once it was the opposition fans who were making fun as they were two points behind Leicester, which is one place above the drop zone. Cunha added the third goal, although the defense was weaker and the goalkeepers were unconvincing.

When Ward replaced the injured Mads Hermansen at half-time against Newcastle last week, he conceded three goals in 15 minutes. The defense was once again nervous without their first choice, causing countless problems and leading to fans cheering sarcastically whenever Ward managed to complete the simplest task.

The game was a reminder of how quickly things can change in football and there is still plenty of time left in the relegation rollercoaster that Leicester and Wolves find themselves on.