Wolves boss Gary O’Neil blasts ‘crazy’ decision to stage FA Cup fifth round ties in midweek… after Wolves lose Hee-chan Hwang to injury against Brighton

Gary O’Neil criticized the “mad” idea of holding FA Cup fifth-round matches in the middle of the week following Hee-chan Hwang’s injury during Wolves’ 1-0 victory against Brighton.

Mario Lemina’s goal after 77 seconds put Wolves in the round of eight, but Hwang hurt his hamstring in the second half and will miss Saturday’s Premier League trip to Newcastle.

In an effort to reduce fixture congestion, midweek fifth-round games were added for the 2019–20 season; nonetheless, according to O’Neil, these games are significant enough to warrant a weekend schedule.

“This game is so big that it should be played at 3 p.m. on a Saturday with a week’s notice for preparation,” stated O’Neil.

“We aim to choose our best team without considering the results of the previous game or the one subsequent to the other.

I’ve become accustomed to these games taking place on the weekends. It’s a big game when you’re one win away from the quarterfinals.

Read more about Wolves 1-0 Brighton: Gary O’Neil’s team advances to the FA Cup quarterfinals and sets up a matchup with Championship Coventry thanks to Mario Lemina’s early goal.
ENDORSEMENTDue to the fact that we had three games in six days, moving our match against Sheffield United last weekend to Sunday brought it even closer to this one.

It’s absurd to have to decide which game to prioritize.

We could have definitely made time to play it over the weekend. Hopefully, Channy (Hwang) is the only one who lost.

Brighton was eliminated due to injuries thanks to Lemina’s goal.

– whose stopper Jason Steele blew a fantastic opportunity to level the score in stoppage time after going forward for a corner – and scheduled a quarterfinal matchup with Championship team Coventry here.

But in order to win the FA Cup for the first time since 1960, Wolves will have to do far better than this.

Pedro Neto and Craig Dawson, two important players, were left off of the starting lineup, but Wolves made an early breakthrough and led within two minutes.

Jan Paul van Hecke was overtaken by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, and Pervis Estupinan hesitated as Jason Steele flailed at the cross. Lemina did not, allowing Wolves to move ahead.

To make things more difficult for Wolves, Hwang pulled up after making a pass, and Neto took his position right away. Lemina was also changed at the same moment, so he had to go carefully down the tunnel.

“We played well in the first half but made too many mistakes in front of goal, although I’m happy with our performance, the style we played and our attitude,” stated Roberto De Zerbi, the manager of Brighton.