Wolves flops in meltdown AGAIN as Ait-Nouri has to be held back after 2-1 Ipswich defeat with O’Neil clinging to job
GARY O’NEIL’S future as Wolves boss is hanging by a thread after his side conceded a last-gasp winner against fellow relegation-threatened Ipswich.
And the home side’s flops capitulated AGAIN with yet another in-house meltdown at the end, prompting boos from the fans.
The Tractor Boys went ahead in comical fashion when Matt Doherty scored a hilarious own goal.
And as time started running out in the game, O’Neil must have been fearing the worst on his Molineux tenure.
But Matheus Cunha stepped up and delivered to fire in an equaliser for Wolves and looked to have rescued a point with his 72nd-minute blast home.
However, Wolves and O’Neil were left heartbroken when Taylor headed in at the back post after the three minutes of injury time to condemn the hosts to defeat.
Then just like Jose Sa against Bournemouth and Mario Lemina at West Ham, the Wolves players struggled to keep their emotions in check.
Tempers flared after the full-time whistle with various Wolves players held back by coaches – including Rayan Ait-Nouri and goalscorer Cunha.
The member of staff even picked the Algerian full-back up to restrain him in more chaotic scenes on the pitch which saw arguments break out between team-mates.
Ait-Nouri then had to be ushered away down the tunnel as the West Midlanders imploded again.
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A fourth straight defeat leaves Wolves four points off the bottom of the table, having now conceded 40 league goals, six more than any other side.
Wolves had been on the back foot from the 15th minute, when Ipswich took the lead through Doherty’s own goal, although it would have been fairer to put a mark next to the entire home defence given the mess they got themselves into.
Liam Delap had no right to barge his way past new Wolves skipper Nelson Semedo down the right but managed to get to the byline.
His pull-back was slightly behind Omari Hutchinson, who rounded goalkeeper Sam Johnstone but saw his shot blocked on the line by Doherty.
Conor Chaplin shot goalwards on the rebound, and though Toti blocked it, his header struck Doherty to roll back over the line.
It was a horrible goal to concede, but the Wolves supporters in the Sir Jack Hayward stand directed their ire at the boardroom rather than O’Neil, chanting against club owners Fosun.
Wolves should have been level in the 24th minute when Cunha found Mario Lemina in space and the Gabon midfielder, stripped of the captaincy this week after his clash with West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen on Monday, laid it on for Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, but the Frenchman blazed over wastefully.
There was an even better chance for Jorgen Strand Larsen nine minutes later, beating the offside trap when Ait-Nouri slipped the ball through, but the Norwegian’s tame shot was straight at Aro Muric.
O’Neil sent on Tommy Doyle in place of Andre at the break but it was Ipswich who threatened first through a drilled shot from Wes Burns, pushed to safety by Johnstone after more good play from Delap in the build-up.
Frustration inside Molineux was growing as Wolves’ own efforts came to nought, and they were lucky they did not fall 2-0 behind just before the hour as a superb reverse pass from Chaplin released Burns down the right, but Delap could not find the finish to turn his cross home.
The boos and groans only intensified as a series of Wolves attacks ended with poor passes and worse decisions, but Wolves finally pulled something out of the bag to draw themselves level in the 72nd minute.
Cunha, shortly after needing to have his finger strapped up, was inevitably at the heart of it, helping to work the ball wide to Goncalo Guedes and then latching on to his pass to fire beyond Muric with the help of a slight deflection off Harry Clarke.
The mood changed in an instant.
Three minutes later, Larsen was only denied by a last-gasp block from Cameron Burgess, who then had to cut out Ait-Nouri’s cross to prevent a tap-in for the Norwegian.
Wolves were pushing for a winner, with Larsen firing narrowly wide and Cunha shooting over.
But Ipswich had the final say as Jack Clarke sent in a corner and Taylor was afforded time and space to head home.
Could that be the final blow to O’Neil?