Wolves forward Matheus Cunha has been named on the bench for his side’s match against Tottenham despite returning from suspension.
Cunha was hit with a four-match ban after being sent off in the FA Cup defeat at Bournemouth, having hit, kicked and headbutted Milos Kerkez during extra time.
Head coach Vitor Pereira confirmed earlier this week that he would name an unchanged starting XI for the fifth successive game, having won three in a row in Cunha’s absence to all but guarantee their Premier League safety.
After arriving at Molineux, Cunha was indeed named among the substitutes.
On Saturday, the hot-headed attacker was embroiled in a surprise online spat with a group of Wolves supporters after posting – and then swiftly deleting – a cryptic message on Instagram which declared he would ‘follow his dream’.
The 25-year-old shared a cryptic black and white photo of himself wearing a Wolves tracksuit top alongside the words,聽‘Time to be happy. I will follow my dreams, not yours. So stay cool.’ The story was visible for several minutes before being removed.
Wolves forward Matheus Cunha has been named on the bench against Tottenham
Cunha returned from a four-game ban and a day after arguing with supporters on social media
He was hit with a suspension after kicking and headbutting Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez
Some eagle-eyed supporters, including group Talking Wolves, took a screenshot, resulting in criticism online which seemingly irritated Cunha, who then hit back out.
Cunha told Talking Wolves:聽‘Do you know what you want? For people to not like me here, unfortunately I’m going to the field to solve the problem of your favourite club. I’m not here looking for alternatives to be someone important.聽
‘Fans root for their own, they don’t create misfortunes all the time.’
Talking Wolves then replied, saying: ‘Completely false. You would have seen us praising you and supporting you from day one. We’re reporting the news and what’s happening. Stop blaming your personal mistakes on us.’聽
In response, Cunha added: ‘I’m sorry but that’s exactly what you want. The first one to report fake news, not what was really in the news.聽
‘I make a video and pretend it’s irrelevant. What you don’t understand is that you are an opinion maker, if you don’t like me, that’s fine friend. Let’s do the following, in common we only have the Wolves that I love so much.’
Cunha has been in red-hot form this season, scoring 15 goals in 29 games across all competitions, and he is all but certain to move on from Molineux this summer.
Explaining his decision to leave Cunha on the bench on Sunday, Pereira said: ‘Matheus is committed, working and preparing himself to help the team.聽But we won the last three games, playing consistently, tactically and mentally.
One supporters’ group highlighted his conduct, leading Cunha to respond angrily (pictured)
He is expected to move on this summer and several Premier League clubs are circling
‘What is fair? It is fair to keep going with the same team. This is my opinion. This is football, this is commitment, this is leadership. And Matheus will come on to help us.聽
‘He’s committed. He understands. I had a conversation with him.
