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Two clubs in the process of a reset. If Wolves’ fate is all but sealed, they seek to carry good vibes into the Championship. Bournemouth’s objective was to make last week’s defeat of Liverpool the staging post for one of those streaks of good results that have made Andoni Iraola’s reputation. Mission accomplished for the Cherries, who could celebrate only their second away win of a hitherto troubled season, a first since August. In the performance of second-half sub Rayan, who supplied Alex Scott’s late clincher, there is much to look forward to.
Without Antoine Semenyo, a scorer against Wolves last week, Iraola is finding solutions. A callow asset-stripped squad is still full of promise. The manager paired Eli Junior Kroupi playing behind the centre-forward wiles of Evanilson. Kroupi duly delivered a brilliant first-half strike.
Rob Edwards, the Wolves manager, seeks consistency beyond doomed mediocrity but this was a result to dim recent optimism. Mateus Mané, Portugal via Rochdale teenage shining light, offered hope. He had the ball in the net in the eighth minute, and took so long to notice the offside flag against Rodrigo Gomes he had completed his celebration routine.
A marginal call but Wolves’ plight lends them some freedom. A number of their players are playing for Premier League futures in the sense of showing their talent to potential top-echelon suitors. Mané leads the list, while Hugo Bueno’s scampers from left-back were impressive. André and João Gomes are capable midfielders but struggled with Scott’s quality.
Wolves’ response to going a goal down was unpromising, against the grain of Edwards’ toothy optimism. Bournemouth had been scratching around for the form of the previous week though Amine Adli firing over after an Evanilson layoff might have served as warning. For Kroupi’s goal, André carelessly lost the ball in midfield. The execution was brilliant. Scott’s winding run was followed by an Adli flick that Kroupi first controlled before his shot billowed the net. Wolves’ response was irritation, José Sá and Yerson Mosquera both involved in an unseemly row with Adli, Kroupi and Evanilson as the teams left the field at half-time.
Mané remained the home beacon of hope, chasing the channels and testing Djordje Petrovic with a grubber of a shot as Wolves attacked their fans in the Jack Hayward Stand for the second half. Tempers were fraying, with Mosquera and Adli fighting a running battle. Wolves’ chance came when Bueno crossed from the left and Mané’s first-time effort was straight at Petrovic.
While Wolves pleaded for a Lewis Cook handball, on came Rayan, Kroupi and Adli withdrawn as a caution against getting involved in any further nonsense. Each of Rayan’s touches were glimpses of gliding, leggy flair, direct, raw running into the heart of the Wolves defence.
With all not lost, Wolves’ own substitutes included Jørgen Strand Larsen, linked with a £50m move to Crystal Palace but doing his value little good with a shank wide of a serviceable chance. Jhon Arias for André, who had done little to impress any suitors, was a failed attempt to add more flair. Mané’s own rawness was evidenced by going for goal with others better placed. Next, Gomes nodded a Bueno corner against a post.
A game Bournemouth should already have won now hung in the balance. It might have been secured had Alex Toth, another January arrival off the bench, not slashed Rayan’s pass wide after another promising run. Instead, Scott, as 90 minutes arrived, poked home to confirm Wolves’s 18th Premier League defeat of the season. Good luck with those good vibes.
