WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — Diego Costa’s first Premier League goal for six years helped fire Wolverhampton closer to survival on Saturday.
The striker inspired the hosts to a 2-0 win over Brentford to end his wait for a goal after his September arrival.
Hwang Hee-chan netted the second, with Wolves now seven points clear of the relegation zone with seven games left after successive league wins for just the second time this season.
Julen Lopetegui’s side edged toward safety and another barnstorming Costa display sparked memories of his bullying best at Chelsea.
Ninth-place Brentford's European hopes continue to fade after a damaging defeat.
Wolves opened the scoring after 27 minutes. It was all down to Costa’s driving run from midfield as he charged forward to pick out Toti on the left. The striker continued into the box to collect Toti’s cross, evade Christian Norgaard and poke past David Raya from 12 meters for his first goal in English football since the 2017 FA Cup final.
Wolves wrapped up victory with 21 minutes left.
It was created by Matheus Nunes as the midfielder darted down the left and skipped between Rico Henry and Vitaly Janelt. His low cross was then blocked by Ethan Pinnock but it rolled straight into the path of Hwang to tap in.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
