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A rare own goal from goalkeeper Illan Meslier gave Wolves a 1-0 home win over Leeds United in the Premier League and allowed them to overtake their opponents in qualifying.
The goalkeeper unknowingly directed the ball into his own goal after Adama Traore traced the shot from the second half of the crossbar.
Mateusz Klich hit a post and Patrick Bamford had a goal disallowed for offside, while Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio twice denied Liam Cooper and cleverly saved Helder Costa in injury time.
The Wolves recorded consecutive victories for the second time this season to overtake Leeds in 11th place and leave the visitors still in search of their 200th Premier League victory.
Both sides played their part in an entertaining game from the start, with a tough loss at Leeds.
FULL MATCH DETAILS
Nelson Semedo drove straight to Meslier before the goalkeeper reversed Pedro Neto’s arched 25-yard effort after 12 minutes.
Meslier then claimed another fierce long-range effort from Neto, but Leeds restricted their hosts to shots from afar and created the first serious start after 14 minutes.
Romain Saiss dropped Bamford, but a crouching Cooper couldn’t get enough of Raphinha’s free kick and headed straight for Patrick.
It was the signal for the game to open and Leeds created another good opportunity when Raphinha slipped into Klich. The midfielder’s low effort bounced off the near post, Pascal Struijk’s follow-up was saved by Patricio and Raphinha finally shot wide.
The wolves responded immediately and Meslier stopped Semedo’s angled effort as the winger continued to probe to the right.
The threat from Semedo would have worried Marcelo Bielsa and Meslier needed to be alert to deny it again just before the break.
Open competition continued after the restart and Neto took advantage of Jack Harrison’s loose pass to shoot while Willian José waited free in the area.
For Leeds, however, the 12-goal Bamford, facing the observation of England manager Gareth Southgate, failed to leave a serious mark as United struggled with their last ball.
The diminishing threat from Leeds allowed the wolves to take a degree of control, but they too lacked the composure to find a breakthrough.
It almost cost them when Cooper got the pitch from Raphinha and Patrick stopped his header, and Bamford’s follow-up was smuggled.
But the save proved crucial as the Wolves instantly regrouped to grab a winner in the 64th minute fortunately.
Traore finally scooped the ball up to the left to comfortably shrug off Luke Ayling and dash into the area. The forward’s 25-yard drive rocked the bottom of the bar and the ball bounced, hit Meslier in the back and rolled down the line.
Patrick saved from a stretched Cooper as Leeds looked for a quick response and Bamford had an emphatic shot discarded for offside.
However, a draw never came thanks to two clever stops in injury time by Patricio, when he denied Costa and deflected Raphinha’s header.
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