Jimenez uses his head to keep Wolves at the door
BUT HOWE’S RELEGATION HEADACHE GETS WORSE
RAUL JIMENEZ floored Bournemouth with a stunning header to crank up Eddie Howe’s relegation nightmares.
The Cherries actually put up a halfdecent fight but, yet again, they were sent home with no points to show for it as Wolves maintained their quest for European qualification.
It has becoming something of a recurring theme for Bournemouth and time is running out for Howe and his men to turn things around.
His side put up an organised and stubborn display until Jimenez’s cracker of a goal an hour into a game in which neither keeper had really had a proper save to make.
It had been tepid stuff to that point and the game was crying out for something memorable to happen when Adama Traore lit the fuse and hung a peach of a cross to the far post.
Traore burst past Adam Smith, clipped the ball over and Jimenez steamed in to leap above Steve Cook and Jack Stacey and power a header into the roof of the net.
The Mexican’s 15th league goal of the season suddenly had the alarm bells clanging for the Cherries, whose chronic form cannot be ignored after five defeats in six league games.
Bournemouth went into the game knowing they could get themselves out of the bottom three.
But they failed to test Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio and, against a team pushing for a place in the Champions League, the outcome was all too familiar.
This year they’ve taken just seven points from the 33 available – just one point from their past six games. The signs are all there.
Just as worrying for Howe must be the fact that they have a daunting run-in, with games against Manchester United, Leicester, Tottenham and Manchester City.
This match could have been all over with 10 minutes to spare, but Aaron Ramsdale reacted superbly to keep out a shot fromWilly Boly.
The Cherries keeper could only have seen Boly stick his foot out at the very last second but got down quickly to beat the ball away and at least give his side a glimmer of hope.
But they had not managed a shot on target to that point so there was nothing to suggest that would change.
Pedro Neto squandered a great chance to wrap up victory in the dying moments when, clean through on goal, he sliced his shot wide of the post.
WOLVES (3-5-2): Patricio 6; Boly 6, Coady 6, Saiss 6; Doherty 6, Neves 7, Moutinho 6 (Gibbs-White 90), Jonny 6, Traore 7 (Dendoncker 72); Jota 7 (Neto 61, 6), Jimenez 8 (Podence 90).
Goal: Jimenez 60.
BOURNEMOUTH (4-3-2-1): Ramsdale 7; Stacey 6 (Kelly 82), S Cook 6, Ake 7, Smith 5; Billing 6 (Gosling 50, 5), L Cook 6, Lerma 6 (Danjuma 67, 5); Brooks 6 (H Wilson 67, 5), Stanislas 6 (Solanke 67, 5); C Wilson 6.