Wolves took a huge step towards Premier League survival after getting a leg-up from an old enemy.
No team has more of an axe to grind with VAR than Wolves, whose fans refuse to say the acronym without a four-letter word beginning with ‘f’ preceding it.
And when referee Michael Salisbury stopped play for what looked a firm but fair tackle by Bournemouth’s Illia Zabarnyi, the travelling fans here at the Vitality Stadium were quick to sing their favourite chant.
But those jeers turned to cheers when Salisbury visited his pitchside monitor, saw that Zabarnyi had caught Rayan Ait-Nouri above his ankle, and dished out a red card that sent high-flying Bournemouth careering back down to earth.
Wolves have been on the wrong side of so many VAR calls since the start of last season that they voted to scrap the system altogether in the summer.
But Vitor Pereira will be glad no other clubs joined the West Midlanders on that crusade, after Zabarnyi’s red turned this contest in his side’s favour and sent the visitors on their way to arguably their biggest win of the season.
It wasn’t just that they left with three points after travelling to one of the most in-form teams in the country, one with very serious ambitions of making the top four.
But to do it on a day when Ipswich lost comfortably at home to struggling Spurs, and a day after Leicester were torn to shreds by Brentford, felt like a major statement in a relegation battle that might just peter out before it’s really begun.
Wolves had shown promise even before Zabarnyi’s red card. They carried a threat on the counter, and it took a superb save from Kepa Arrizabalaga to keep the scores level when it was 11 versus 11.
And if it was an unusual sight to see them getting on the right side of a contentious VAR call, there was nothing surprising in seeing Matheus Cunha be the man to lift them out of the mire. The Brazilian has been one of the best players in the division this season and when the ball fell to him in space in the box, you knew there was only one outcome.
Without Cunha committing to a new contract in January amid interest from clubs like Arsenal, the outlook for Wolves would be very different. Certainly, it is hard to imagine that they would be five points clear of the drop with a dozen games to play. But that’s where they find themselves — after a day when everything simply went their way.
Despite these teams’ contrasting fortunes, Pereira’s men arrived on the south coast with history on their side. Wolves had never lost a Premier League at the Vitality Stadium — and it was the visitors who had the first big chance.
When Nelson Semedo’s shot found the post, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde looked certain to score from the rebound. But Cherries keeper Arrizalabaga picked himself up off the floor in the nick of time and stuck out an arm to deny the Frenchman.
Wolves already looked dangerous on the break and were handed a massive boost in the 31st minute when Zabarnyi saw red for his foul on Ait-Nouri. The Ukrainian dived in slightly recklessly and though he won the ball, his studs also planted themselves in Ait-Nouri’s shin. The Bournemouth fans howled in anger when referee Salisbury brought out a yellow card — and they were positively incandescent when he upgraded it to red after visiting the pitchside monitor.
Iraola flapped his arms like mad to gee those supporters up but his gestures didn’t have the desired effect. Wolves hit the front five minutes later, Cunha making no mistake after the ball fell kindly for him in the area.
When the usually unflappable Dean Huijsen passed a ball out of play under no pressure, it seemed to sum up a sorry first half for Bournemouth.
That mistake had less riding on it than Marshall Munetsi’s horror miss from a few yards out in the second half. Wolves’ winter signing from Reims really should have had his first goal for the club after being found free in the box by Bellegarde’s pass, but somehow contrived to miss the target.
That will have had Wolves fans fearing the worst as a team of Bournemouth’s undoubted quality chased an equaliser. But their man disadvantage proved insurmountable and meant Wolves were able to put clear daylight between themselves and the bottom three for the first time this season.
