Bournemouth vs Wolverhampton Wanderers. Premier League.
Vitality StadiumAttendance10,671.
Report and highlights as spot kicks dominate on the south coast
Saturday 23 February 2019 20:00, UK
Josh King scored but then later missed a penalty as Raul Jimenez's spot-kick salvaged a point for Wolves at Bournemouth on Saturday.
King opened the scoring with a 14th-minute penalty, before Jimenez levelled matters with his own successful spot-kick seven minutes from time.
However, the hosts passed up the opportunity to take all three points when King missed a late penalty in a feisty contest on the south coast that produced 25 fouls and 10 yellows.
As a result, Wolves stay eighth in the Premier League, while Bournemouth move up to 10th.
Roger East was a late change as referee at the Vitality, and the official was the centre of attention in the first half after giving one penalty and controversially refusing to award another.
The hosts took the lead when Mr East correctly decided that King had been tripped in the box by Joao Moutinho, with the Norway international doing the rest from the spot for his ninth league goal of the season.
However, Wolves will feel aggrieved they were not given the chance to draw level just six minutes later after the ball appeared to hit Chris Mepham's arm as the defender made a hash of trying to clear the ball for a corner.
The man who mattered most disagreed, although the visitors' protests were calmed when Mr East did point to the spot when Adam Smith - already on a yellow but not shown a second card - caught Matt Doherty in the box late on.
Jimenez nonchalantly rolled home the penalty for his 10th league goal of the campaign, only for Bournemouth to be given the opportunity to retake the lead just minutes later after Ivan Cavaleiro's trip on Ryan Fraser.
This time, however, King fired against the outside of the right-hand post, although with the foul having actually taken place just outside the box, Wolves will feel justice was done.
But they may not feel that was the case with Bournemouth midfielder Jefferson Lerma, who appeared fortunate to only be booked after his flying elbow left a furious Joao Moutinho with a bloodied face 20 minutes from time.
On the basis of this silky-smooth display, you can see why some of the Premier League's so-called Big Boys are reportedly interested in signing Bournemouth's classy centre back.
The Netherlands international did not put a foot wrong all afternoon long, making numerous vital interceptions to prevent Wolves' dangerous forward line from scoring.
"Ake was absolutely sensational today, especially in the second half when he put everything on the line. He had big decisions to make and was absolutely man of the match," said Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas of the player's performance.
Eddie Howe: "The only danger with VAR, if you're looking at those decisions, maybe Ryan's is outside the box but are any of the others clear-cut? No, probably not. So it's still going to be someone else's interpretation.
"I thought Ryan's one was probably outside the box in all honesty but I haven't seen them again. The first one I saw something, a tangle of legs. The one that I probably have the biggest opinion on is their penalty.
"It's just you rarely see them given. Adam's committed to his challenge, Doherty's got his shot away. I really wasn't expecting a penalty to be given.
"Arguably, if it's outside the box I have seen fouls given for those things but inside the box rarely is a foul given for that, so I was surprised to see that one."
Nuno Espirito Santo: "The result we never know and justice in football is sometimes not so fair if you want.
"But what I saw was a very emotional and competitive game, both teams trying to win the game. First half, I think we played really well, second half not so well.
"But against a very tough team, Bournemouth here in Vitality Stadium is very tough, they have good players and Eddie [Howe] is doing a fantastic job.
"So happy with the performance of the boys in such a difficult space."
"I thought the first (penalty) was quite harsh," the Scot told Sky Sports. "The second one was a bit soft in my opinion, for Wolves. Maybe that balanced it up if you like."
"The third? Not a penalty for me, I thought he got it wrong. The referee, because he made that decision very early on (booking Adam Smith)... he was very quick in doing so because there was four or five Wolves players who all get round him and so it agitated him a little bit. So then the cards starting coming out pretty softly."
Bournemouth take on Champions League-chasing Arsenal at the Emirates on Wednesday night, while Wolves travel to bottom-of-the-table Huddersfield on Tuesday evening.
