Antoine Semenyo scored the only goal of the game as 10-man AFC Bournemouth moved into the top half of the Premier League by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0.
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Semenyo struck after 37 minutes to give the Cherries all three points at Molineux, where Wolves had two goals ruled out.
Hwang Hee-chan and Max Kilman thought they had scored equalisers, with the latter netting in the final moments of stoppage time, but Wolves’ luck was out.
Milos Kerkez was sent off for Bournemouth in the 79th minute but the Cherries held firm to inflict defeat on their former head coach Gary O’Neil, whose Wolves team drop to 12th.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 |
West Ham
WHU
|
35 | -9 | 49 |
| 10 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
35 | -8 | 48 |
| 11 |
Wolves
WOL
|
35 | -7 | 46 |
| 12 |
Brighton
BHA
|
34 | -5 | 44 |
| 13 |
Fulham
FUL
|
35 | -4 | 43 |
| 14 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
35 | -12 | 40 |
How the match unfolded
Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa was forced into action twice as Bournemouth started well, pushing Semenyo’s deflected effort wide before clawing away Marcos Senesi’s header from the resulting corner.
The hosts nearly gifted the Cherries an opener when Tommy Doyle lost possession inside his own half and Dominic Solanke was played in on goal, but Kilman came up with a vital intervention.
Wolves’ first attempt on goal came when Ryan Christie was dispossessed inside his own half, but Mark Travers, making his first league start of the season, was able to tip behind Pablo Sarabia’s curling effort.
Instead, Bournemouth deservedly went ahead before half-time when Semenyo finished coolly following a free-flowing attacking move.
Bournemouth nearly doubled their lead inside the first 10 minutes of the second half when Justin Kluivert deflected Senesi’s shot towards goal, forcing Sa into a smart reaction save.
Wolves thought they had an equaliser when Hwang headed home from Nelson Semedo’s cross, but the goal was overturned after a VAR review, with Matheus Cunha deemed to have committed a foul in the build-up.
Kerkez was sent off for a rash lunge on Matt Doherty, but Wolves were unable to make their numerical advantage count, with Kilman adjudged to have strayed marginally offside after he thought he'd equalised at the death.
Toothless Wolves seeing their season fade out
Wolves boss O’Neil could not complete the league double over his former employers as his side’s winless streak stretched to six league matches.
Even with the returning quartet of Semedo, Sarabia, Mario Lemina and Rayan Ait-Nouri, Wolves struggled to get going as an attacking force.
Sarabia passed up the chance to connect with Hwang’s cross before Lemina had a shot deflect over and Ait-Nouri curled an effort wide in their only showing of attacking intent in the first half.
They may have had two goals disallowed, but it was all in all a rather toothless attacking display, and Wolves’ European hopes have swiftly drifted away.
Cherries on course for record points tally
Bournemouth ended their three-match winless run, and it was ultimately an excellent first-half display that was crucial in getting the job done.
Even Kerkez’s recklessness late on was not enough to put them off course, and they now need only two points from their remaining four Premier League fixtures to surpass their record tally of 46 set in the 2016/17 season.
Club reports
Wolves report | Bournemouth report
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Bournemouth have won their sixth away game in the Premier League this season, their joint-most victories on the road in a single campaign in the competition, after their debut season in 2015-16 (6).
Wolves have failed to win any of their last seven matches in all competitions, they last went longer without victory in a single season in November 2016 (9 games).
Bournemouth have won four of their seven away league games against Wolves (L3), winning consecutive such games for the first time.
No player had more shots (4) or created more chances (4) in the match than Bournemouth’s Ryan Christie, indeed its his most shot involvements in a Premier League away game (8).