Black Cats pay the penalty

New Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill saw his troops throw away a lead to lose 2-1 to Wolves at Molineux on Sunday afternoon.

Fletcher at the double for Wolves at Molineux

New Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill saw his troops throw away a lead to lose 2-1 to Wolves at Molineux on Sunday afternoon. Two late goals from Steven Fletcher were enough to give Wolves the crucial three points and cancel out Kieran Richardson's superb opener for Sunderland. The game's turning point was the missed penalty from Seb Larsson with Wolves equalising just 30 seconds later after Wayne Hennessey's save from the Swede's spot-kick After a goalless first half Sunderland broke the deadlock on 52 minutes with a fierce shot from Richardson after a flowing counter-attack from the visitors. Sunderland wasted a great chance to double their lead on 72 minutes when they won a penalty after Larsson went down in the box under a challenge from former Black Cats defender Jody Craddock. Larsson took responsibility from the spot but his effort was easily saved by Hennessey and he was made to pay for that miss as Wolves went straight down the other end and equalised. Matt Jarvis flighted over a cross from the left and Fletcher lost his marker Wes Brown to head past Keiren Westwood and bring the home fans to their feet. Things got worse for Sunderland nine minutes from time with a controversial second goal from Fletcher. Jamie O'Hara appeared to bring the ball down with his arm or shoulder inside the box to allow Fletcher to drive home into the bottom corner. The Black Cats were the first to settle and Stephane Sessegnon's volley was clung on to by Hennessey after Craddock had headed away a Larsson centre. Wolves threatened for the first time when O'Hara's volley ballooned up to Christophe Berra whose header was held on the line by Westwood. The home side appealed in vain for a penalty after Lee Cattermole tugged at Dave Edwards' shirt inside the box. Hennessey went down to hold on to Larsson's long range attempt after a clearance from John O'Shea had dropped into his path. Larsson made a vital tackle to halt the run of Stephen Hunt towards the Sunderland box.

Superb save

It needed a superb save from Westwood to keep Sunderland on level terms after 39 minutes. Matt Jarvis delivered a probing cross which found Hunt in space and his powerful close-range effort was parried away by Westwood when a goal seemed inevitable. Lee Cattermole became the first player to be yellow carded a minute late for a challenge on Kevin Doyle and will now have to serve a one-game ban for incurring five bookings this season. Stephen Ward came to Wolves' rescue three minutes before the interval when he cleared off the line from the impressive Sessegnon. Bendtner went for goal himself at the start of the second period when the overlapping Larsson was in a better position and failed to hit the target with his rising shot. But after 53 minutes a superb strike from Richardson put Sunderland in front after a quickfire counter-attack. Bendtner's flick found Sessegnon in space and he released the overlapping Richardson whose rising shot flew past Hennessey inside the near post for his second goal of the season. Richardson then showed his defensive qualities with a vital clearance from Ward's low centre as the home side searched for an instant reply. Ronald Zubar was booked for a foul on Bendtner before McCarthy made a double change with Doyle and Hunt replaced by Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Adam Hamill.

Penalty

Sunderland had the chance to double their lead when Craddock was adjudged to have brought down Larsson inside the box although replays suggested the initial contact may have been outside. But Hennessey kept Wolves hopes alive by saving Larsson's low spot-kick away to his left. It was a crucial save as within 30 seconds Fletcher had levelled for Wolves. Jarvis sent over a curling centre and Fletcher's downward header beat the dive of Westwood. Then Fletcher put Wolves ahead after 81 minutes when a cross from substitute Hammill was manoeuvred by O'Hara to the former Scottish international whose low shot flew past Westwood. Bendtner was booked for a trip on Edwards as Sunderland were unable to rescue the game.

Wolverhampton Wanderers	Team Statistics	Sunderland
2	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	0
5	Shots on Target	9
3	Shots off Target	6
9	Blocked Shots	5
8	Corners	3
10	Fouls	12
3	Offsides	2
2	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
71.8	Passing Success	70.9
9	Tackles	27
66.7	Tackles Success	77.8
54.9	Possession	45.1
57.1	Territorial Advantage	42.9
476	Total Passes	412
40	Total Crosses	17
220	Lost Balls	190
60	Recoveries	70
0	1st Half Poss.	0
0	2nd Half Poss.	0