Talking points from Wolverhampton Wanderers v AFC Bournemouth

Once again refereeing decisions will dominate discussions, both sides left feeling aggrieved.

Whilst Wolves cannot dispute the offside call that ruled out an added time winner, they will feel that the decision to rule out Hee Chan Hwang’s header was not clear and obvious.

Cherries will argue that Milos Kerkez was harshly sent off, and they may yet appeal that red card.

But after digging a little deeper, here are the further talking points from Wednesday’s game.

Travers stakes a claim for starting spot

Rotation seemed inevitable with two games in a four-day span, but few would have predicted Mark Travers starting over Neto.

Andoni Iraola has been diplomatic all season when discussing the choices available to him in goal, implying that they all have a chance to play at the weekend based on their training performances.

However, in the Premier League there has been a clear first choice – with captain Neto starting whenever available.

Iraola has also stated that he will not be playing fringe players despite Cherries’ season petering out to a comfortable finish, so it was a surprise to see Travers start in goal.

Ironically, Neto had replaced Travers to make his Premier League debut for Cherries against Wolves last season.

In a further coincidence, it was the man in the opposite dugout on Wednesday night that made that call, Gary O’Neil choosing to drop Travers after the 9-0 defeat suffered at Liverpool in Scott Parker’s last game in charge.

With Cherries in the ascendency there was little for Travers to do, but when called upon he looked solid. A sprawling save denied Pablo Sarabia from 20-yards-out, a stop just beyond routine for a keeper.

There were also big cheers when Travers came and claimed high balls into the box, the slither of Cherries travelling fans sounding their appreciation.

The Irishman could do nothing for either of Wolves’ offside goals, with his defence blocking most shots coming his way.

Overall it was a composed performance that now gives Iraola food for thought going forward.

O'Neil's actions betray his diplomatic comments

O’Neil has done quite a bit to spread the message that there is no further narrative to this fixture beyond two football teams simply facing each other, but it is hard to believe that.

Even if he managed to keep emotions in check in the reverse fixture, his side’s response to the win betrayed his façade, mobbing their head coach after getting one over his former employers.

Quite the animated character without added motivation for a win, O’Neil frequently strained as if he was kicking every ball throughout the contest.

One-by-one O’Neil worked through the Wolves teams with a series of gestures, providing what must have been vital information judging by the effort he exerted.

His decisions also indicated that winning here meant something more.

With his side trailing in the second period, he brought star Matheus Cunha back earlier than expected from injury, desperate for the Brazilian to produce something.

Cunha did produce something off the bench – a reason for Wolves’ equaliser to be chalked off.

A petulant swing out at Justin Kluivert off of the ball proved too obvious for VAR to ignore.

Even if it didn't mean much for O'Neil, Ryan Christie and Adam Smith's post-match celebrations proved this fixture has a bit of needle to it.

Mid-table relaxation?

It was not all business for O’Neil, however.

During the warm-ups the former Cherries coach wandered over the halfway line to catch up with Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper, and as the teams came out there were big smiles shared between O’Neil and Iraola.

Neither side would accept being labelled as on the beach but there was an odd calmness to proceedings that only a pressure-free environment can produce.

Stuart Attwell’s whistle to start the game was met by blank stares from the Wolves side kicking-off; the referee had to gesture again to Hwang to get affairs underway.

Attwell himself was in no mood to relax, as he proved when he probably became the first referee in the Premier League this season to instruct a side to move further up the pitch to take their throw-in.

But that was as laidback as it got, as there will be no rest or relaxation in the final four games of the season now Bournemouth are on the cusp of creating Cherries history.

Victory at Molineux not only lifted Cherries into the top half of the table, but it also leaves them just two points shy of overhauling the club record points total in a Premier League season.

As Iraola has previously stated, Bournemouth have been talking about breaking the record for some weeks – and they will not stop now they are so close to doing so.