Bournemouth are still without a Premier League win this season as substitute Sasa Kalajdzic secured a 2-1 comeback win for Wolves against 10 men at the Vitality Stadium after Lewis Cook was sent off for a headbutt on Hwang Hee-Chan .
For all Gary O’Neil’s pre-match insistence that he had ‘zero consideration’ in this fixture marking his return to the Vitality Stadium, his Wolves team certainly had the bit between their teeth as they secured valuable three points against their manager’s old manager. stomping ground from which he was wrongly expelled.
It was reset after the international break. Bournemouth have been in that mode after every game so far this season, with Andoni Iraola’s reign on the south coast still left woefully without a win as the early season struggles devolved into a simultaneous theme of defeat. Wolves, on the other hand, extended their unbeaten run to three games.
There was scant mention of O’Neil’s return to Bournemouth in the pre-match programme, no nod to his extraordinary efforts that kept the club in the division against the odds last season, no thanks from the board for putting in the money sting a championship team if he wasn’t there, in fact the only comments about the Wolves boss came from Iraola.
Oh, how the Cherries wish they could turn back time before pulling the trigger on sacking the 40-year-old in the summer.
Sasa Kalajdzic celebrates scoring the winner for Wolves as they inflict defeat on Bournemouth
Matheus Cunha celebrates Wolves getting back into the match by beating Bournemouth 2-1
Gary O’Neil celebrates victory over the team that fired him this summer
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The visitors came within inches and took an early lead after Pedro Neto cut in from the wing, drove in two challenges and smashed an effort against the crossbar.
Wolves were fluid in attack but shaky in defense as players like Boubacar Traore took too long on the ball against a Bournemouth team who are above Manchester City and Liverpool in terms of turnover this season.
Ultimately their creaking defense collapsed under the weight of Bournemouth as Philip Billing was given time and space to find Dominic Solanke who finished his chance superbly with an instinctive back heel in the 17th minute.
The driven cross from close range was played just behind Solanke, but he somehow managed to dig the ball out with a back heel, a reminder of the finishing ability the former Liverpool striker still possesses.
If his goal was an example of how to score, his next attempt was a demonstration of what not to do when he tried to pull a bouncing ball towards the goal but cut it off his toes instead.
Suddenly, Wolves’ defense decided to wake up. Solanke was no longer allowed to roam freely, with Craig Dawson now sticking him to his body like glue, and Traore was tasked with following Billing around the pitch as their former gung-ho approach was somewhat contained.
Wolves controlled possession before half-time but they played keep-ball for ball’s sake, slowly passing the defense, occasionally launching a high ball forward and constantly looking for the counter-attack that was rarely there as Bournemouth were locked out was put into bid. to maintain the lead before halftime.
All of Bournemouth’s hard work in the first half was undone within ten minutes of the start of the second period. Cunha led Wolves’ revitalized attack with a brilliant curling effort from just inside the penalty area to draw his side level.
Neto stormed through Bournemouth’s half before firing a perfectly weighted ball into the path of the former Atletico Madrid man, who left Sa hanging helplessly between the posts.
Things got worse moments later when Cook completely lost any sense of discipline after first sweeping the legs out from under Hwang before headbutting the South Korean after a brief rally as the Wolves forwards fumed at the original challenge.
Lewis Cook’s headbutt on Hwang proved to be a turning point in the match
The Cherries midfielder received a straight red card and piled up the problems
Things started so well for Bournemouth when Dominic Solanke opened the scoring
There was minimal contact, Hwang played his part in pushing Cook, but once the Bournemouth defender made contact with his head there was only one possible action the referee could take. A straight red card was quickly shown, VAR looked but did not overturn the decision and suddenly the hosts found themselves with a man down and held on.
You had to feel sympathy for Iraola. Let down by a moment of madness that gave Wolves the keys to victory, the Spaniard could do little to stop the wave of attacks that followed.
Hwang was public enemy number one for the remainder of the match and the home crowd made their feelings clear when he tried to turn in Cunha’s parried shot in the 57th minute, but his shot skied into the stands. Neto missed an even better chance with less than 10 minutes to go.
The Cherries needed just two minutes of regulation time and they would have secured a remarkable draw, but were their own worst enemy when captain Neto put Billing under incredible pressure on the edge of his own penalty area, the striker stumbled and Hwang rolled the ball. ball into Kalajdzic, who finished coolly.
Redemption for O’Neil, disaster for Iraola as his position at Bournemouth is under serious threat.