Munetsi shines in full debut

ZIMBABWE international Marshall Munetsi’s Wolverhampton Wanderers full debut saw him firmly stamp his presence on the pitch, turning in a performance worthy of a man-of-the-match nod.

As Wolves sought to exploit Bournemouth’s red card disadvantage, it was Munetsi’s touch that paved the way for Matheus Cunha’s first-half strike, handing his side a crucial 1-0 lead.

Wolves went straight up the other end and opened the scoring through Cunha.

Nelson Semedo’s cross into the box was not cleared by the Bournemouth defence — still reeling from the sending off of Illia Zabarnyi — and after touching Marshall Munetsi, it fell kindly to the Brazilian, who lashed his effort high past the keeper.

Wolves added another three points to their battle against Premier League relegation as Cunha’s first half strike was enough to see the Old Gold overcome the challenge of 10-man AFC Bournemouth. Strand Larsen was linking well with Munetsi and Cunha in attack, with the Zimbabwean seeing his effort deflected behind. This was before Cunha gave Larsen a similar chance moments later, which again was blocked.

Just after the hour mark, Munetsi had the chance to open his Wolves account after meeting a great Jean-Ricner Bellegarde cross, but he turned the ball wide from six yards out.

The teams could not be separated during the opening half an hour as both sides produced plenty of opportunities to take the lead, but the red card shown to Zabarnyi turned the game in Wolves’ favour.

Just five minutes later, Cunha scored the only goal of the game as he latched onto the loose ball in the Cherries’ penalty area before firing underneath the crossbar and securing a sixth win of the season for the visitors. Facing one of the form teams in the Premier League, it was never going to be all plain sailing for the Old Gold on the south coast, and during an entertaining first half, Vitor Pereira’s men had to do plenty of defending to stop a dangerous Bournemouth attack.

Marcus Tavernier tested Jose Sa’s gloves early on, while Santi Bueno, Toti and Matt Doherty were kept busy at the back with several shots and crosses having to be blocked by the back three.

However, it was not all one way traffic and Wolves had several opportunities of their own, with Bournemouth relying on Kepa Arrizabalaga to keep the scoreline down. The former Chelsea stopper had to be at his best to make a terrific double stop to push away Semedo’s shot from the edge of the box after the captain had made space for himself before the keeper got up quickly to block Bellegarde’s effort on the rebound. — Zimpapers Sports Hub/wolves.co.uk

EPL Results

Everton 2-2 Manchester Utd

Arsenal 0-1 West Ham

Bournemouth 0-1 Wolves

Fulham 0-2 Crystal Palace

Ipswich 1-4 Tottenham

Southampton 0-4 Brighton

Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea

Fixtures

Newcastle v Nottingham 4pm

Man City v Liverpool 6.30pm