Micah Richards believes Wolves might have performed even better had the “clinical” player remained healthy.

On Saturday afternoon, Wolves lost to Manchester City 5-1, despite a brilliant performance from one of Gary O’Neil’s stars. The Old Gold’s 5-1 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad on Saturday was a tough outcome for Wolves to accept.

Although winning the match was never going to be simple for Gary O’Neil’s team, matters weren’t made any simpler when the hosts were given a contentious penalty barely ten minutes into the contest.

The call was deemed “ridiculous” by BBC analyst Ian Wright, who was not alone in his assessment. Many were confused by Craig Pawson’s decision to award the penalty. Although there was one thing the visitors could be happy about, Wolves were still well short of what was needed to win against the triple winners, who have yet to lose at home this season.

Against Manchester City, Hwang Hee-chan made an impression. Hwang Hee-chan gave the Old Gold a glimmer of hope early in the second half of the match with his 12th Premier League goal of the year, making the score 3-1.

The Korean’s goal was expertly executed as the Wolves striker clinically ended City’s hopes of keeping a clean sheet with a cross from Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.

Even though City won the game and Hwang wasn’t as engaged as he would have wanted, the 28-year-old shown his talent in the moments he did play, leading Micah Richards to assess his influence on Sky Sports following the game.

He’s a real excellent player, along with Neto. This season, he has scored 12 goals in the Premier League. His clinical style has been missed in crucial places, and his wing-back speed has also been missed.

Because he can go in behind, maintain composure under pressure, and score goals, I believe he offers something special to this team. I’m sure they would have performed much better if he had been healthy for the entire campaign.

Hwang has been missed by Wolves this season. Hwang was on track to have a prolific season under O’Neill after scoring ten Premier League goals before departing for the Asia Cup in 2023.

Regretfully, the forward saw his form decline after the competition, returned from South Korea exhausted, and was eventually forced to miss five games with a hamstring injury.

The striker was crucial to Wolves’ early-season success, and his departure cost the Old Gold some of their attacking presence. No other player can match his strength and ability to finish games while leading the attack.

For Wolves, it has been a season filled with “what ifs,” but one that is worth celebrating given the challenge O’Neil has thrived at in his first season as manager of the team. Hwang is among the numerous players who have benefited from the Englishman’s presence, and he will have plenty of chances to demonstrate his growth at Molineux throughout the remaining games of this season and the following one.

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