And to think Stuart Attwell was hoping for a quiet week clear of controversy. The referee was again the subject of rage, this time not from a Greek shipping magnate but from Wolves’ irate supporters, after he disallowed Hwang Hee-chan’s second-half equaliser at home to Bournemouth for the meekest of tangles in the buildup. Attwell initially awarded Hwang’s header before the VAR, Darren England, advised him to visit the pitch-side monitor to review a brush between Matheus Cunha and Justin Kluivert, albeit a petulant one.
Kluivert went to shove Cunha and the Wolves substitute responded by flinging an arm in his direction but did not appear to make any contact with the player. It was a brief contretemps but, tellingly, Kluivert did not appeal after Hwang converted Nélson Semedo’s superb cross. Gary O’Neil placed his hands on his head in disbelief – not for the first time this season – and the fans let Attwell know the rest. “It’s not football any more,” bellowed the South Bank.
