Talk about winning ugly. Bournemouth barged, niggled and time-wasted their way to a win that lifted them out of the bottom three and if it keeps them up at the end of the season, nobody will care a jot.
This was a powerful statement from a group of players who seemed right behind their manager Gary O’Neil – not that he is ready to reward them for their victory.
‘They asked me for Monday off and I said no,’ he smiled. ‘You have to win more than one game to get a day off, lads.’
With Wolves dominant in the first half, Bournemouth could have crumbled having lost their previous six away games.
Yet thanks to a sensational defensive display from Jack Stephens, the Cherries never let the dam burst, and sneaked the points thanks to Marcus Tavernier’s goal early in the second half.
Their next two matches are against Manchester City and Arsenal but if Bournemouth show the same discipline as they did here, they can make life difficult for the league’s two strongest teams.
Referee Michael Salisbury never had control and Wolves moaned about their opponents’ gamesmanship – but have only themselves to blame. They could not make it count when they were on top in the first half and during the second boss Julen Lopetegui bizarrely took off Adama Traore, by some distance his most dangerous attacker.
‘In the last 20-25 minutes we forgot to play football,’ admitted Lopetegui. ‘You can concede a goal but it’s about how you react, and our reaction wasn’t good.
‘When I arrived we were bottom of the table and now we are in the middle of the fight. We have to get to 40 points. Now we are sad but tomorrow we have to be balanced. It will be a long hard race for a lot of teams.’
Wolves’ last home game was a 3-0 win over Liverpool while Bournemouth had not scored in their previous four fixtures on the road, so it was no surprise to see Lopetegui’s men begin on the front foot.
Cherries goalkeeper Neto punched tentatively at Joao Moutinho’s corner and the ball rebounded off Tavernier – but did not fall to a Wolves boot. Then Stephens stopped Pablo Sarabia turning in Nelson Semedo’s cross at the near post.
Traore showed a stunning first touch to control Matheus Nunes’ overhit pass in mid-air before crossing for Matheus Cunha, with Stephens there again to avert the danger.
Lopetegui showed his exasperation on the touchline when Hugo Bueno crossed dangerously from the left and no Wolves player was there to attack it.
The frustration grew for Wolves. Moutinho headed Semedo’s cross over and then his return pass was drilled against Neto by Sarabia.
And it got worse for Wolves straight after half-time when Bournemouth took a shock lead. With the Wolves defence static, Dominic Solanke drifted into space inside the box and drilled across goal. Marcus Tavernier had nipped in front of Semedo and when the ball flicked his left thigh, it was enough to take it beyond Jose Sa.
Lopetegui’s men tried to respond immediately as Traore gave Jordan Zemura the slip, but Cunha’s attempted header at the near post was poor.
Bournemouth had been happy to run down the clock even with the score goalless and they did so even more eagerly now. To boos from the South Bank, Tavernier took an age to leave the pitch after picking up a knock to the hamstring that ended his afternoon.
When Philip Billing went down soon afterwards to force another delay, Lopetegui had had enough and marched over to fourth official Tim Robinson. He nearly lost his rag completely when Zemura hit the deck to bring about a third stoppage, only to race after Traore moments later like a lion pursuing a gazelle. ‘It didn’t matter how we won today,’ acknowledged O’Neil, who insisted Billing’s and Zemura’s pain had been genuine. ‘We just needed to win a game, and we did.’
Stephens was having a magnificent game and after Traore had escaped once more, he denied Cunha with another superb challenge. No wonder the centre-back celebrated as though he had scored.
Wolves were getting tetchier and at this point Lopetegui opted to send on Diego Costa, hardly a man to lower the temperature, for his 100th Premier League appearance. Sure enough, the former Chelsea man was soon bumping into Marcos Senesi off the ball, and remonstrating with fellow substitute Daniel Podence when the Portuguese failed to read Costa’s header across goal.
Lopetegui played another card by replacing Traore with Raul Jimenez as Craig Dawson’s header was flicked over by Neto. Wolves’ chances were slipping away when Neto did well to cling on to Ruben Neves’ volley from distance. Then when Podence and Sarabia then ran into each other and Jimenez lost his footing in the area, Wolves knew it would not be their day.
