Wolverhampton Wanderers have strengthened their bid for a Championship playoff spot by securing a 2-1 victory over Brentford.
Nouha Dicko and an own goal from James Tarkowski gave Wolves a 2-0 advantage and, although Brentford halved the deficit late on, it was too late to prevent Kenny Jackett's side from extending their unbeaten run to four games.
Brentford came agonisingly close to an early opener when Carl Ikeme made a fine intervention to deny Jota, and the goalkeeper was rewarded for his save when Wolves went in front on seven minutes.
The ball was floated into open space for Dicko to race clear of the Brentford defence, before keeping his composure to slot the ball into the corner.
Kevin McDonald and Bakary Sako came close to doubling the home side's advantage as Wolves had the better of the opening quarter, but Brentford came on strong during the final 15 minutes of the half, with Alex Pritchard glancing wide of the post after being found by Moses Odubajo.
Wolves came out strongly after the restart, but they were fortunate to avoid conceding a penalty four minutes into the second half when Alan Judge appeared to have been hauled down in the penalty area.
The pace of Rajiv van La Parra was causing problems for Brentford, but the Dutchman remained without a goal since moving to Molineux after seeing a strike from inside the six-yard box well blocked by a defender.
However, with 17 minutes remaining, Wolves found their second, and it was almost Van La Parra who scored it.
The winger's header struck the crossbar before rebounding into the path of Kevin McDonald, and the Scot's miscued effort deflected off Tarkowski and went into the net.
After playing his part in the second goal, McDonald handed Brentford a lifeline by picking up a second yellow card for a late challenge on Judge, and that dismissal threatened to give the visitors some impetus heading into the final 10 minutes.
They pulled a goal back with three minutes remaining when a Jake Bidwell cross was deflected up and over Ikeme off the leg of Danny Batth, but Wolves managed to hold on to move into eighth place heading into 2015.
Darren Plant
