Wolves Manager Gary O’Neil Addresses Defending and Disputed Decisions

Wolves manager Gary O’Neil conceded that his team’s set-piece defending requires improvement, but he also contended that significant officiating decisions went against them in their loss to West Ham at London Stadium. Regarding the corner kick that led to West Ham’s opening goal, the ball appeared to have last touched West Ham full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Subsequently, concerning West Ham’s second goal, O’Neil was of the opinion that a foul had been committed against Wolves defender Santiago Bueno during the build-up to the play. When confronted with the argument that a new phase of play had begun after the potential foul on Bueno, O’Neil told Sky Sports: “That is crazy. He was going to head the ball away, so next phase of play is irrelevant because we would have cleared the ball.” O’Neil additionally felt that his side was not awarded two penalties, stating: “The foul on Goncalo Guedes was a blatant penalty. There was a little one on [Jean-Ricner Bellegarde] too, it was small contact but enough to make him fall over.”