Bournemouth 1 Wolves 1 – Report and pictures

Josh King scored a controversial early penalty after referee Roger East judged that he'd been tripped by Joao Moutinho, before a clear handball by Chris Mepham in the Bournemouth box went unpunished.

Leander Dendoncker and Matt Doherty spurned headed opportunities in the second half, while Jordan Ibe hit the bar and Moutinho was elbowed in the face by Jefferson Lerma, who was only booked.

Wolves equalised when Raul Jimenez netted from the spot after Doherty was fouled – before King spurned a second penalty, firing wide after Ivan Cavaleiro tripped Ryan Fraser with replays showing contact was outside the box.

Analysis

There have been very few similarities between this season and Wolves' last jaunt in the Premier League.

But refereeing injustice against Wolves felt pretty familiar indeed, writes Tim Spiers at the Vitality Stadium.

Roger East was the centre of attention with some big – and poor – decisions, awarding three penalties, somehow missing a clear one for handball, dishing out loads of yellow cards, awarding a yellow for an elbow on Joao Moutinho and generally just losing control of the entire shebang.

At the end of it all Wolves were grateful for a very hard-earned point at a ground where away teams from outside the top six suffer defeats more often than not.

Their performance certainly merited it, particularly in a first half in which they were the better side and played some classy, attractive football.

The second half was about grinding out a result and Wolves yet again showed their battling qualities to extend their unbeaten run to eight matches.

It sets them up perfectly for two winnable games against Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City this week.

Nuno's team may have slipped to eighth owing to Watford's thumping of Cardiff on Friday night, but they couldn't be in a much better place right now, despite Mr East's efforts to the contrary.

Match report

Diogo Jota passed a fitness test after recently struggling with a dead leg, so Wolves were at full strength with Rui Patricio and Ruben Neves coming back into the XI following last weekend's FA Cup win at Bristol City.

Bournemouth certainly couldn't say the same – they came into the game without top scorer Callum Wilson and creative influence David Brooks, while Junior Stanislas also missed out.

The Cherries, though, were not to be underestimated, certainly on home turf where they hadn't been beaten by a non-top six side since November 2017.

It was confident Wolves, on the back of a seven-game unbeaten run, who started full of confidence, winning three corners in the first five minutes.

They took the game to the hosts and their fans thought they'd taken the lead when Jota won the ball back in the Bournemouth box, teeing up Raul Jimenez for a smart finish, but referee Roger East harshly penaltised the Portuguese forward for a foul.

The ref was the centre of attention 30 seconds later – and again Wolves were on the wrong end of his decision. Moutinho put his foot in on Josh King, but made minimal contact with the Bournemouth man who went down and won the penalty. Moutinho may also have won the ball. King sent the penalty into the corner and Bournemouth were ahead.

Mr East wasn't done with Wolves yet. A few minutes later he denied them a certain spot kick, missing a clear handball by Chris Mepham with the ball rolling down his arm in the box. Every Wolves play appealed loudly but to no avail.

The aggrieved visitors were clearly going to get no help from the man in black, so persisted in trying to level things up from open play.

They almost did when a Jota cut-back was cleared by Nathan Ake and hit Leander Dendoncker, six yards out, before rolling wide.

Jota and Jonny Castro Otto were combining to great effect down the left, while an angry Moutinho was as aggressive as he was artistic.

The majority of the game was being played in Bournemouth's half and livewire Jota was again causing them problems when he latched on to a Neves through ball, shrugged off his man and fired a cross-shot across goal, where a despairing Jimenez dive just failed to connect.

Bournemouth had a couple of promising moments via Jordan Ibe and Nathaniel Clyne, but the services of Rui Patricio were rarely required.

As at the start of the first half, Wolves began the second on the front foot and piled on the pressure via Moutinho's searching corners.

From successive flag kicks Dendoncker forced Artur Boruc to push over the bar with a powerful header and then Willy Boly nodded on to the roof of the net.

A poor Patricio kick invited pressure at the other end but the keeper redeemed himself with a fine low save after Dominic Solanke was cutely played in on goal. It was a crucial moment in an entertaining game between two evenly-matched, attacking sides.

Bournemouth's best spell of the game followed but the Wolves defence, via a couple of blocks and clearances, held firm.

Nuno reacted by sending on Ivan Cavaleiro in place of a tiring Jota, who hadn't been as effective in the second half.

With 20 minutes to go Wolves were again on the attack and Jimenez saw a shot blocked. But yet again the game came back to the referee – Moutinho was elbowed in the face by Jefferson Lerma, albeit the Bournemouth man had his eye on the ball. He was only booked amid angry protests from Moutinho's team mates and then, after treatment, Moutinho himself who was bleeding from the mouth.

Wolves were visibly angry and were having to keep a lid on their frustration.

On came Adama Traore for Dendoncker, going wide right in a 3-4-3 formation. He made an instant impact with a superb cross which Doherty could only glance across goal.

And then, finally, a decision went Wolves' way. Doherty looked to shoot from inside the box and was tripped by Adam Smith – this time the referee favoured the visitors and Jimenez coolly sent Boruc the wrong way to score his 12th goal of the campaign.

A madcap game had experienced enough drama and controversy to fill three matches – but it kept on coming. Cavaleiro hastily tripped Fraser on the corner of the box and, despite replays showing the contact was made inches outside the area, Mr East pointed to the spot. This time, though, justice was done when King put his penalty wide via the post.

The atmosphere was feral now and both teams went for the win. Jimenez almost diverted a Cavaleiro cross in and then Bournemouth ramped things up with a successive of crosses and corners, with Patricio making a stunning save to deny a Solanke header at his near post.

Both sides went for it in stoppage time and Wolves went close when a Moutinho free kick was brilliantly cleared by Ake. But they had to settle for a hard-earned point.

The sprinklers even came on in injury time. It was a fittingly bizarre end to a crazy afternoon.

Key moments

14 - Goal! Bournemouth take the lead from the spot. King goes down in the area under a fairly tame challenge from Moutinho, and the referee swiftly awards a penalty. King steps up to take it and slots the ball into the bottom corner with his right foot.

21 - Wolves appeal for a spot-kick of their own, but to no avail! Cherries defender Mepham appears to control the ball with his hand as he tries to head it. Jota leads the protests and picks up a booking in the process.

38 - Wolves go so close to levelling! Jota is released in behind the home defence by Neves and gets a shot off. It is rolling wide, but Jimenez looks like he can get a foot to it, only to miss it by a split second.

83 - GOOOOALLL!! Jimenez hits back with a penalty! Doherty shoots but is caught late by Smith, and a spot-kick is awarded. The Mexican then coolly slots the ball home with his right foot for his 10th league goal of the campaign.

85 - PENALTY MISSED! Up the other end of the pitch, the home side have a second spot-kick as Fraser is tripped by Cavaleiro. King assumes responsibility once again, but his attempt clips the post as it travels wide.

Teams

Bournemouth (4-4-2): Boruc; Clyne, Ake, Mepham, Smith; Ibe, Lerma, Gosling (c), Fraser; King, Solanke (Mousset, 90)

Subs not used: Begovic (gk), Simpson, Rico, Daniels, Surman, Surridge, Mousset

Goals: King (pen 14)

Wolves (3-5-2): Patricio; Bennett, Coady (c), Boly; Doherty, Dendoncker (Traore, 77), Neves, Moutinho, Otto; Jimenez (Saiss, 88), Jota (Cavaleiro, 66)

Subs not used: Ruddy (gk), Vinagre, Gibbs-White, Costa

Goals: Jimenez (pen 83)

Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire)

League position

8th (40 points from 27 matches)

Next up

Wolves travel north to face Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night, kick off 7.45pm.