Bournemouth 1-1 Wolves: Three penalties in Vitality Stadium draw

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo said referees have a "difficult task" after three dubious penalties were awarded - two against his side - in a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

Cherries striker Joshua King scored from the spot after going down easily under Joao Moutinho's challenge, and then missed in the second half following a foul - which was outside the box - on Ryan Fraser.

Referee Roger East was at the centre of the action and turned down a penalty shout from the visitors when defender Chris Mepham misjudged a clearance and the ball bounced off his arm.

But he did award Wolves a spot-kick when Adam Smith was judged to have brought down Matt Doherty, with Raul Jimenez coolly converting the equaliser.

The official also showed Bournemouth midfielder Jefferson Lerma only a yellow card for an elbow into the face of Moutinho.

The point was enough to move Eddie Howe's side up to 10th in the table, six points and two places adrift of Wolves.

"Football is not always fair, it was a very competitive and emotional game against a very tough team," said Nuno.

"Eddie Howe is doing a fantastic job. When incidents happen in the game you cannot lose focus. Until the first penalty we were on top, but then we lost composure and we must improve.

"It is a very difficult task for referees. I don't want to talk about VAR [video assistant referee]. As long as the officials are fair nobody can complain."

Sometimes players cheat - Nuno won't criticise referee East

Relive the incident-packed draw and the rest of Saturday's Premier League action

East has difficult afternoon

East, 53, started badly when he pointed to the spot for Bournemouth's first penalty, despite there appearing to be little contact on King in the box.

With uncertainty surrounding the opening goal, East then made further debatable decisions - the most questionable one being to keep Lerma on the field, one of 10 yellow cards handed out in the match.

The Colombia midfielder jumped for a high ball with Moutinho, but the Portuguese was left furious about the challenge and needing medical attention with blood inside his mouth.

"Joao Moutinho is bleeding heavily from his mouth," added Nuno. "He was not happy at all, and when a short man is angry it's tough."

Striker Jimenez, who had a goal ruled out in the opening period, grabbed a point with seven minutes left after Doherty's coming together with Smith, which East felt warranted a second penalty of the game.

And there was still time for the referee to complete a hat-trick - but King struck his effort wide of the target on this occasion.

Bournemouth manager Howe said: "My initial reaction to the first one was that it was a penalty.

"You're always slightly biased, but I thought theirs was harsh on us. The player got his shot away and you don't see players penalised for the follow-through in that scenario very often.

"The third one, there is a debate over whether it is inside the box. I haven't seen it again.

"We should score and win. King has been a reliable taker for us - but it wasn't to be."

Solid at the back, lacking up front

Tweet from the BBC's Conor McNamara showing the sprinklers at the Vitality Stadium going off before the end of the game — The sprinklers were turned on at the Vitality Stadium before the game came to an end

Bournemouth were heading towards a third straight clean sheet at home before Jimenez's goal seven minutes from time.

Up until that point, the Cherries had restricted the visitors to one effort on target - Leander Dendoncker's header which was tipped over the crossbar by Artur Boruc.

Netherlands centre-back Nathan Ake was at the heart of his side's excellent defensive work, making 14 clearances as well as winning the ball back four times and contributing three tackles.

On-loan Liverpool right-back Nathaniel Clyne played well too, but two former Reds could have won the contest.

Dominic Solanke, signed for £19m in January, had a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0 but shot straight at Rui Patricio when through on goal and also flicked a header straight at the keeper, while winger Jordon Ibe smashed an effort against the crossbar.

Wolves penalty was harsh on Bournemouth - Howe

Wolves battle for point

The draw took Wolves to 40 points from 27 matches, which equals their best Premier League tally, set in 2010-11.

A year later, they finished bottom of the table and only returned to the top flight this term after a six-season absence by winning the Championship.

Santo's side were far from their best on the south coast but will be pleased to nick something from the game.

They have shown their battling qualities throughout the campaign and did so once more, netting their 26th second-half goal of the season.

Santo added: "We dig deep in the second half. Both teams could win but the draw says that it was a competitive game and a good spectacle."

What's next?

Bournemouth travel to face Arsenal on Wednesday (kick-off 19:45 GMT), while Wolves go to bottom side Huddersfield on Tuesday (19:45).

The Norwegian King - the stats

Bournemouth have never lost a Premier League home game against newly promoted opposition (W7 D3).
This was the first Premier League game to have three penalties since West Ham v Watford in April 2016.
Wolves have scored 74% of their league goals in the second half of games this season (26 of 35), a league-high ratio.
Wolves have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their past nine away league matches.
Raul Jimenez (10 goals, five assists) has had a hand in a higher share of Wolves' 35 league goals this season than any other player (42.9%).
Bournemouth's Joshua King is now the third-highest-scoring Norwegian in the Premier League (39 goals), with only Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (91) and Steffen Iversen (40) netting more.
King is only the second Cherries player to score in three top-flight home games in a row, after Junior Stanislas in October 2018.
Bournemouth's Adam Smith was shown a yellow card after 49 seconds, the second-quickest card awarded in the Premier League this term.

Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text

Line-ups

Bournemouth

Formation 4-4-1-1

1BorucBooked at 90mins
23Clyne
33Mepham
5Aké
15A SmithBooked at 1mins
10Ibe
8LermaBooked at 70mins
4GoslingBooked at 90mins
24Fraser
17King
29SolankeSubstituted forMoussetat 90+1'minutes

Substitutes

6Surman
9Mousset
11Daniels
21Rico
25Simpson
27Begovic
44Surridge

Wolves

Formation 3-5-2

11Rui Patrício
5BennettBooked at 57mins
16Coady
15Boly
2Doherty
32DendonckerBooked at 42minsSubstituted forTraoréat 77'minutes
8NevesBooked at 85mins
28João Moutinho
19Castro Otto
9JiménezBooked at 77minsSubstituted forSaïssat 88'minutes
18JotaBooked at 21minsSubstituted forCavaleiroat 66'minutes

Substitutes

7Cavaleiro
10Hélder Costa
17Gibbs-White
21Ruddy
27Saïss
29Vinagre
37Traoré

Referee:: Roger East
Attendance:: 10,671

Match Stats

Home TeamBournemouthAway TeamWolves

Possession: Home45%; Away55%

Shots: Home10; Away10

Shots on Target: Home3; Away2

Corners: Home9; Away8

Fouls: Home10; Away15

Live Text

Post update
Match ends, Bournemouth 1, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1.
90'+7'
Full Time
Second Half ends, Bournemouth 1, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1.

90'+6'
Post update
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
90'+6'
Post update
Delay in match (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
90'+5'
Booking
Artur Boruc (Bournemouth) is shown the yellow card.
90'+5'
Post update
Foul by Adama Traoré (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
90'+5'
Post update
Nathan Aké (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90'+4'
Booking
Dan Gosling (Bournemouth) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
90'+4'
Post update
Rúben Neves (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90'+4'
Post update
Foul by Dan Gosling (Bournemouth).
90'+3'
Post update
Foul by Romain Saïss (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
90'+3'
Post update
Nathan Aké (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90'+3'
Post update
Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Nathan Aké.
90'+2'
Post update
Adama Traoré (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
90'+2'
Post update
Foul by Nathan Aké (Bournemouth).
90'+1'
Substitution
Substitution, Bournemouth. Lys Mousset replaces Dominic Solanke.
89'
Post update
Attempt saved. Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Ryan Fraser with a cross.
89'
Post update
Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Ryan Bennett.
88'
Substitution
Substitution, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Romain Saïss replaces Raúl Jiménez.
88'
Post update
Attempt missed. Dan Gosling (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left following a corner.

As It Stood

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Man City	27	21	2	4	74	20	54	65
2	Liverpool	26	20	5	1	59	15	44	65
3	Tottenham	27	20	0	7	55	27	28	60
4	Man Utd	26	15	6	5	52	35	17	51

5	Arsenal	26	15	5	6	53	37	16	50
6	Chelsea	26	15	5	6	45	29	16	50

7	Watford	27	11	7	9	39	35	4	40

8	Wolves	27	11	7	9	35	34	1	40
9	West Ham	27	10	6	11	35	40	-5	36
10	Bournemouth	27	10	4	13	38	48	-10	34
11	Everton	27	9	6	12	36	39	-3	33
12	Leicester	27	9	5	13	32	38	-6	32
13	Crystal Palace	27	8	6	13	31	35	-4	30
14	Burnley	27	8	6	13	31	48	-17	30
15	Newcastle	27	7	7	13	24	34	-10	28
16	Brighton	26	7	6	13	28	39	-11	27
17	Cardiff	27	7	4	16	25	52	-27	25

18	Southampton	26	5	9	12	28	44	-16	24
19	Fulham	27	4	5	18	26	61	-35	17
20	Huddersfield	27	2	5	20	14	50	-36	11

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237 comments

Comment posted by Andy27, at 17:18 23 Feb 2019
13. Posted by glorygloryspurs
These two garbage outfits will never be as big as spurs or have our history.

As a London club, with the money at your disposal, you must be the biggest under-achieving club in the history of football.
Wolves had a great day out beating your shambolic outfit over Christmas and easily won 3-1.
I see you had another good result today at the mighty Burnley :)
Comment posted by Tim London, at 17:19 23 Feb 2019
If I remember rightly didn't this garbage Wolves stuff Spurs 1-3
Comment posted by Eddguy , at 16:59 23 Feb 2019
Entertaining game. Sadly both teams seem to have been victims of a referee who decided he wanted to be the centre of attention. Take a bow Mr East you succeeded .
Comment posted by Werewolf-Therewolf, at 17:53 23 Feb 2019
@13 "These two garbage outfits will never be as big as spurs or have our history."

Really?
Wolves: Founder members Football League 1888. Spurs?
Wolves: 3 times champions of England. Spurs?
Comment posted by U17167457, at 16:57 23 Feb 2019
Well done cheating Cherries diving around like Tom Daley.
Wolves did well to get a draw against 12 men. Absolutely farcical refereeing and thanks for the elbow to Moutinho. Thugs.
UTW
Comment posted by U17426746, at 16:57 23 Feb 2019
Was roger east drunk. Or just in love with Bournemouth
Comment posted by DJL-WOLF, at 17:24 23 Feb 2019
Worst refereeing display I've ever seen in professional football.
Bmouth first penalty was a clear dive.The referee then missed the most blatant handball penalty deision you will see on a football pitch.
Elbow on mouthino was a clear red card, then the Wolves penalty was 50/50 but in giving it it has to be a red for Smith.
Then the second bmouth penalty was a comical decision.
Not good enough.
Comment posted by bigbadwolf2018, at 17:23 23 Feb 2019
Lerma's elbow on Moutinho was terrible and could have resulted in a very serious injury. What was Roger East thinking when only a yellow was brandished? Aside from the penalty decisions East's performance was very poor. I do hope Wolves send a report to the FA about him.
Comment posted by Golden Wonders, at 17:15 23 Feb 2019
Spurs boy @13 - Wolves got more history than you’ll ever have - and made you look silly this season already. Move over Wolves are coming!
Comment posted by U16663585, at 17:13 23 Feb 2019
At least the ref was consistent. He got all 4 penalty calls wrong.
Comment posted by Lurch, at 17:05 23 Feb 2019
What is it with the shoddy state of refereeing in the Prem this season!?

VAR gonna make a difference next season, apart from breaking up any flow to a game?

However, I'll take VAR over this shower of refereeing s****e with their one eyed decision making.

COMB!
Comment posted by U17426746, at 17:01 23 Feb 2019
Ps ladies gents and children that's how to referee when you have home win or draw on your betting slip. Appalled
Comment posted by parkylane street, at 17:43 23 Feb 2019
54 Bad luck Wolves you've been mugged by a "homer"
Comment posted by Black Country Man, at 17:21 23 Feb 2019
No 13, Silly Spurs Boy, at least these teams play their home games at home, don't have to borrow a stadium and then only half fill it.

Nice to see Wolves' fellow founder members of the league, Burnley, give the London late comers a pasting today.
Comment posted by DJL-WOLF, at 20:28 23 Feb 2019
Robbo
Insinuating wolves fans are backwards and then gets confused with 'your' and 'you're'.
Thats pretty embarrassing
Comment posted by DJL-WOLF, at 17:40 23 Feb 2019
Kikibella
You are dreaming.mouthinos nose was bloodied and battered.it was an outrageous challenge.
you've got the nerve to criticise Wolves players for diving after king performed the dive he did for the first penalty?
do me a favour
you are a Sunday league club pal
Comment posted by U17167457, at 17:14 23 Feb 2019
13. Take your 'Big Six' mentality somewhere else. And grow up.
Comment posted by Tim London, at 17:12 23 Feb 2019
Glory glory Spurs, What history? Your a joker.
Comment posted by john63, at 20:04 23 Feb 2019
I for one am more than happy with a point away at an established premier league team. Both clubs have done extremely well too more than hold their own this season against the top clubs.
Comment posted by Matt Hughes, at 18:31 23 Feb 2019
@67
Feal fans in the top 6 teams? Have you ever been to a top 6 stadium? Went to Man City and its a library. No atmosphere apart from away fans. Arm chair fan who doesn't know what he is talking about.