Wolves striker Matheus Cunha was handed a two-match ban and fined £80,000 after the incident occurred at full time against Ipswich Town.

After the Premier League ended on December 14, Cunha had an argument with a member of Ipswich Town staff, and the FA accused the Brazil international of “inappropriate” behavior.

The incident came after Jack Taylor scored the winner in Gary O’Neill’s final game for Ipswich Town, who are also fighting for Premier League survival, before he was sacked by Wolves The position of team coach.

Wolves have won four out of 19 games and sit 17th in the Premier League.

Analysis: Cunha ban a big blow for Wolves

Cunha has been Wolves’ bright spot this season, so the damage his absence has done to the club’s hopes of relegation to the Premier League is almost impossible to overstate. His eight goals are only part of the story.

It was Cunha who scored a dramatic late equalizer against Brighton to end the team’s five-game losing streak. It was Cunha’s long-range shot that helped the team achieve its first victory against Southampton and already provided an assist for the first goal of the game.

Cunha’s two glorious goals against Fulham secured Wolves’ only other Premier League win of the season. His team had issues at the other end of the court, but actually had the eighth-highest scoring total thanks to Cunha.

O’Neill likes to talk about the tactical work that made Cunha a better player, but the truth is that the Brazilian remains an improviser, a maverick capable of creating magical moments that come from his own Imagine, not the training ground.

“I’m Brazilian and a very emotional person,” he told sky sports in summer. That emotion has now taken over and has kept him out of some of the club’s key games. The Wolves took on Cunha. Without him, their task looks even more daunting.

New coach Vito Pereira has a number of options. Goncalo Guedes has hinted at the ability to play a bigger role, while Hwang Hee-chan remains hopeful of rediscovering last season’s form. But no one has what Cunha is capable of. At Wolves or other teams.
Adam Bate