Bournemouth 1 Wolves 0 - Report
Wolves opened the 2025/26 season with back-to-back losses after a 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth.
Marcus Tavernier opened the scoring inside four minutes with another goal of Wolves’ own making after losing possession on the edge of their own box.
A disjointed defensive performance should have been capitalised on by the Cherries, who failed to add a second as they dominated the first half.
Wolves were better throughout the second half, but had to play the majority of it with 10 men after captain Toti Gomes was given a straight red card.
Despite a marginally better display, Wolves still carried little attacking threat and were comfortably beaten, despite the narrow scoreline.
Analysis
Vitor Pereira made one change from the side that lost to Manchester City on the opening day.
Andre was surprisingly dropped to the bench as Jean-Ricner Bellegarde moved into midfield and Jhon Arias came in as part of the front three.
New signing Jackson Tchatchoua was named among the substitutes, as Sasa Kalajdzic missed out.
As the game got under way, both sides had good early chances. First, the ball broke for David Brooks at the far post but he fired over.
Then, an even better chance fell for Marshall Munetsi as he muscled his way through, but failed to hit the target.
But it took just four minutes for the hosts to take the lead. Bellegarde was knocked off the ball too easily and as it fell for Antoine Semenyo, he fed Tavernier, who saw his shot take a big deflection off Emmanuel Agbadou and beat Jose Sa.
A dangerous Brooks cross then set up Semenyo from five yards at the far post and when it was harder to miss, the forward somehow knocked the ball onto the crossbar and failed to double Bournemouth's lead.
After a torrid opening 15 minutes, Wolves looked for a resurgence as Ki-Jana Hoever put in a good cross for Jorgen Strand Larsen, who had his header saved.
After 35 minutes, Hoever was forced off with an injury and Tchatchoua came on for his debut.
Wolves entered the half-time break losing 1-0 after a bitterly disappointing opening 45 minutes.
Andre and Hugo Bueno were introduced at half-time for Bellegarde and David Moller Wolfe and it made an instant impact as Wolves created a big chance.
H.Bueno crossed low for Arias, who fired wide from 10 yards.
But only four minutes into the half Wolves were reduced to 10 men. A long ball caught out the Wolves defence and Evanilson was through on goal, only for Toti to shove the forward in the box and receive a straight red card.
Wolves managed the minutes directly following the sending off fairly well, with H.Bueno taking up some dangerous positions on the attack.
Sa was called upon to make an excellent save to deny Tyler Adams after his long range effort.
Wolves pushed for an equaliser and goalkeeper Sa was up for a late corner, but it came to nothing as they fell to defeat.
Key Moments
GOAL 4 Tavernier’s deflected shot gives Bournemouth the lead
RED CARD 49 Toti is sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity
Teams
Wolves: Sa, Hoever (Tchatchoua, 35), Doherty, Agbadou, Toti, Wolfe (H.Bueno, 45), J.Gomes, Bellegarde (Andre, 45), Munetsi, Arias (S.Bueno, 55), Larsen (Hwang, 78).
Subs not used: Johnstone, Mosquera, R.Gomes, Lopez.
Bournemouth: Petrovic, Smith, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert, Adams (Hill, 88), Scott (Christie, 65), Semenyo, Tavernier (Kluivert, 78), Brooks (Adli, 65), Evanilson (Kroupi Jr, 88).
Subs not used: Dennis, Araujo, Gannon-Doak, Soler.
