Premier League: Wolves out of bottom three as Neves penalty earns win over Forest

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves netted a second-half penalty to earn a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday that lifted them out of the Premier League bottom three.

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves. | Photo Credit: AP

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves netted a second-half penalty to earn a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday that lifted it out of the Premier League bottom three.

The hosts had the better of the play in the first half, with Wolves defender Max Kilman going closest to breaking the deadlock but his header hit the post.

Harry Toffolo was then adjudged to have handled in the penalty area following a VAR review and Neves converted from the spot in the 56th minute, ending Wolves’ run of 370 minutes without a league goal.

Forest should have salvaged a much-needed point when it was awarded a penalty of its own in the 75th, but Brennan Johnson’s spot kick was brilliantly saved by Jose Sa.

Ryan Yates missed another opportunity late on to snatch a point, heading over the bar much to the visitors’ frustration.

A nervy Wolves saw out a second win of the campaign and their first since Bruno Lage was sacked as manager earlier this month, moving up to 17th in the standings on nine points, while Forest stay rooted to the bottom on five.

“We had a fantastic first half, Nottingham just tried to slow down the game,” Neves said. “We had a lot of chances in the first half. Second half we played really well again, we scored.

“We conceded a penalty in the set play, we were struggling after the set play because we wanted to keep the ball. But Jose Sa is a fantastic goalkeeper, he showed it last season, he’s showing it again, he saved a really important penalty for us.”

Forest’s Steve Cooper has won just five points from his first 10 matches as a manager in the Premier League, the 12th coach to earn five points or fewer after his first 10 games and the first since Jan Siewert in April 2019.

“It is fine margins in this league no doubt about that but I’m more focused on our possession play in the first half,” Cooper told the BBC.

“Everyone knows we’re trying to find a way of playing, find the best team, and like I said previously it’s a difficult coaching challenge.

“I’m not going to look too much at what didn’t go our way with the officials, we half expected that because of who was reffing,” he added referring to Thomas Bramall.