Wolves 2 (Strand Larsen 6, 69) Bournemouth 4 (Kluivert pen 3, pen 18, pen 74, Kerkez 8)
A chaotic afternoon at Molineux saw Wolves beaten 4-2 by AFC Bournemouth, with three of the visitors’ four goals coming form the penalty spot.
Gary O’Neil ran with an unchanged team, but they were trailing after the first of Justin Kluivert’s three penalties on three minutes, before Jorgen Strand Larsen quickly headed Wolves back level by glancing home Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s centre.
However, the Cherries regained the lead before ten minutes were out when Milos Kerkez punished a series of defensive errors and when Jose Sa caught Evanlison when playing out from the back, Kluivert converted his second penalty.
Strand Larsen’s deflected second with 21 minutes left gave Wolves brief hope, but once Sa fouled Evanlison once more for Bournemouth’s third penalty, Kluivert cooly slotted home to bring Wolves’ four-match unbeaten run to a sudden halt at Molineux.
The tone for a difficult afternoon was set early for Wolves, unfortunately. A long ball over the top caught out Mario Lemina, playing in defence once more, and while Toti came across to covert, he could only bring down Evanlison for an early Bournemouth penalty, which Kluivert converted.
Wolves responded well, however, and Matheus Cunha drove forward before feeding Bellegarde, whose whipped cross was too inviting for Strand Larsen to pass up, with the Norwegian glancing his side level after just five minutes.
Bournemouth’s second goal isn’t one Wolves will want to watch back either. Once Joao Gomes was beaten in the midfield, Lemina came across to cover and when Andre couldn’t save the situation either Nelson Semedo was outnumbered, and Kerkez was able to rifle into the roof of the net.
More uncertainty led to the third too, as Sa took too much time looking for his pass, allowing Evanlison to nip in and take the clatter to the ankle. Following a VAR check the penalty was given, and while Sa went the right way, the spot kick had too much power on it.
For the remainder of the half Wolves kept pushing with Strand Larsen coming close to teeing up Joao Gomes, before heading over, after Rayan Ait-Nouri’s volley was blocked.
Ait-Nouri’s one big flurry forward in the first half did draw a free-kick out of Bournemouth, but Cunha could only curl over harmlessly.
Half-time | Wolves 1 Bournemouth 3
Craig Dawson was brought on at the break, but the Cherries were remaining the bigger threat and Kluivert shot straight at Sa from inside the box.
Toti did fire wide for the hosts following a strong run, and soon after Wolves were back in the game as substitute Goncalo Guedes played in Strand Larsen, whose powerful effort deflected off a defender and high into the net for 3-2.
Those celebrations didn’t last long however, as a poor back post from Dawson put Sa in trouble and once Evanlison nicked past the goalkeeper he was clattered for a third time to earn Bournemouth another spot kick. For the final time, Kluivert converted from the spot.
Wolves were unable to rally once again, with Bournemouth seeing out the victory comfortably on a frustrating afternoon for the hosts.
Full-time | Wolves 2 Bournemouth 4
Wolves | Sa, Semedo, Lemina, Toti (Guedes 62), Ait-Nouri, Andre (Hwang 82), J Gomes, Bellegarde (Forbs 64), R Gomes (Dawson 45), Cunha, Strand Larsen.
Unused subs | Johnstone, Bueno, Doherty, Doyle, Sarabia.
Bournemouth | Kepa, Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi (Huijsen 82), Kerkez, Adams, Christie, Brooks (Ouattara 64), Kluivert (Billing 77), Tavernier, Evanilson (Unal 77).
Unused subs | Travers, Aarons, Hill, Kinsey, Winterburn.