If Wolves were under any illusions of the challenges that lay ahead, then defeat at Bournemouth served to magnify their shortcomings. A disjointed Wolves display was ultimately decided by a fourth-minute strike by Marcus Tavernier, which took a wicked deflection off Emmanuel Agbadou.
Wolves could count themselves unlucky in that particular moment but the worrying thing from Vítor Pereira’s perspective was that his side appeared more dangerous with 10 men, after Toti Gomes was dismissed four minutes into the second half for a silly push on Evanilson.
For Bournemouth, for whom Amine Adli made his debut as a substitute, a first win of the season. The match-winning moment stemmed from the busy USA midfielder Tyler Adams hounding Jean-Ricner Bellegarde on the edge of the box to snatch possession and then Antoine Semenyo, who this week discussed the racial abuse he reported at Anfield, laid the ball on for the overlapping Tavernier to his left. Tavernier’s strike flew in off Agbadou’s left leg. Cue Tavernier’s baseball swing celebration.
The first half proved a particularly difficult watch for those of a Wolves persuasion, typified by Bellegarde’s loose pass for Jackson Tchatchoua – a 34th-minute replacement for the injured Ki-Jana Hoever – on the verge of the interval.
