Wolves 1 Ipswich 2 - Report

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In a game that the home supporters turned on chairman Jeff Shi and owners Fosun with several chants, the visitors took the lead with a calamitous goal that saw Matt Doherty, unfortunately, turn into his own net.

A lacklustre first half came to an end with Wolves down and defeated, before a second half resurgence saw them create a plethora of big chances.

Matheus Cunha’s eighth goal of the season dragged his side level, before he went close to snatching a winner.

But Wolves, who have been battered by set pieces all season, conceded a last minute header from Jack Taylor as a corner was swung in, condemning them to four straight defeats.

Analysis

O’Neil made one change to the team that lost at West Ham last time out.

Joao Gomes was suspended and was replaced by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, while summer signing Bastien Meupiyou made a Premier League squad for the first time as he was named on the bench.

Wolverhampton-born midfielder Sam Morsy, who had a spell in the Wolves academy as a youngster, started for Ipswich.

Wolves made a solid start to the game but, considering their struggles from set pieces this season, were giving away too many free-kicks in the opening stages.

Around 10 minutes into the game, with the score locked at 0-0, chants began in the South Bank against chairman Shi and owners Fosun.

Wolves then went 1-0 down after 15 minutes in embarrassing fashion. It started when new captain Nelson Semedo was bullied off the ball by Liam Delap and the cross came in. The initial shot from Omari Hutchinson was blocked on the line by Doherty, before the follow-up by Conor Chaplin was cleared by Toti Gomes on to Doherty before crossing the line.

Wolves had a golden chance to equalise when Mario Lemina charged towards goal and played a pass to his right for Bellegarde who just had goalkeeper Arijanet Muric to beat, but he blazed it high and wide.

Another big chance came when a delightful reverse pass from Rayan Ait-Nouri found Jorgen Strand Larsen, but his shot on the turn was straight at Muric.

Just before half-time, Ait-Nouri picked up a booking and will now be suspended for next week’s trip to Leicester, as Wolves entered the break losing 1-0.

As the teams came out for the second half, Tommy Doyle was brought on to replace Andre in midfield.

The first chance fell to Wes Burns who tested Sam Johnstone with his shot, while Hutchinson was close to the follow-up from close range.

Wolves were concerned when Cunha went down with a nasty injury to his finger, but he was quickly back to his feet and had his hand taped up.

Shortly after, the visitors should have been 2-0 up. A counter saw a cross come in for Delap, who had a simple finish from close range, but somehow directed it wide.

Wolves had one shot on target after an hour as the home crowd began to get even more restless and O’Neil brought on Goncalo Guedes in the search for more attacking intent.

The body language from some of Wolves’ players was concerning as the team struggled to test the visitors.

The home supporters were furious on two back-to-back occasions when Bellegarde and Lemina both squandered good opportunities with poor crosses.

But the fans were lifted moments later when Wolves equalised. A counter saw Guedes find Cunha down the right and his near post shot from a tight angle beat Muric.

Wolves and their supporters were buoyed by the goal and were all over Ipswich, as they created a huge chance to go ahead.

Toti charged forward and found Larsen in the box, who took a touch, and as he went to shoot Cameron Burgess made a vital block.

Guedes then crossed for Larsen, who slid in to fire agonisingly wide.

Wolves were creating chances at will and a long ball for Cunha saw him force Muric into a save before hitting the rebound over the bar.

In the final of three minutes of added time Ipswich won a corner and Taylor met it at the back post to head home a dramatic winner.

Wolves fans furiously chanted against Fosun and Shi at the final whistle, as Wolves sunk deeper into their relegation battle.

Key Moments

GOAL 15 An unfortunate Doherty own goal puts Ipswich ahead

GOAL 72 Cunha fires Wolves level

GOAL 93 Taylor wins it for Ipswich

Teams

Wolves: Johnstone, Doherty (Guedes, 64), Semedo, Bueno, Toti, Ait-Nouri, Andre (Doyle, 45), Lemina, Bellegarde (Hwang, 73), Larsen, Cunha.

Subs not used: Bentley, Meupiyou, Dawson, Lima, R.Gomes, Forbs.

Ipswich: Muric, Clarke, O’Shea, Burgess, Davis, Morsy, Cajuste (Clarke, 75), Burns (Johnson, 84), Chaplin (Taylor, 75), Hutchinson, Delap (Al-Hamadi, 84).

Subs not used: Walton, Woolfenden, Townsend, Phillips, Broadhead.