Soccer-Kluivert bags penalty hat-trick to lift Bournemouth to 4-2 win over Wolves

WOLVERHAMPTON, England - Dutchman Justin Kluivert became the first player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick of penalties in a single match as Bournemouth beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-2 at the Molineux Stadium on Saturday.

Bournemouth sit 11th in the table with 18 points from 13 games, while Wolves dropped back in the relegation zone in 18th place with nine points.

The home side were off to a terrible start when defender Toti Gomes fouled striker Evanilson in the box and forward Kluivert stepped up to calmly convert the penalty, slotting it into the right corner to open the scoring inside three minutes.

However, two minutes later Norwegian forward Jorgen Strand Larsen headed home the equaliser for Wolves only for Bournemouth left back Milos Kerkez to restore the visitors' lead in the eighth minute.

Hungary international Kerkez, 21, curled a powerful shot into the top corner from a tight angle to score his first Premier League goal.

Wolves gave away a second penalty in the 18th minute when goalkeeper Jose Sa clipped Evanilson's ankle, with Kluivert again making no mistake from the spot to extend Bournemouth's lead as he sent the ball into the bottom-left corner.

Strand Larsen scored a brace to reduce that deficit in the 69th minute and just when the goal sparked Wolves into life, Brazilian Evanilson won his third penalty in the 74th minute when Jose Sa brought him down, becoming the first player to win three penalties in the same game in the Premier League.

The 25-year-old Kluivert stepped up again and sent the Portuguese goalkeeper the wrong way to complete his hat-trick and snap Bournemouth's two-match losing run.

"Very pleased with the performance and the win. We have played well without getting points, the last two. We needed the win and the performance. In the first half we were very dangerous and the press was working well. We deserved this," Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told BBC.

"We are trying to put pressure on them, don't let them feel comfortable. Evanilson today has made the difference. He has been fighting with the centre-backs and the keeper. He was phenomenal."

Missing the suspended Antoine Semenyo, Bournemouth put on a dominant performance and constantly looked threatening as Wolves, who were eyeing three successive Premier League wins in a row for the first time in almost a year, paid price for individual errors at the back.

"Incredibly disappointing, and self-inflicted. Some crazy, crazy errors there. Especially early in the game. It's disappointing, the lads are equally disappointed," Wolves head coach Gary O'Neil told the BBC.

"We need to turn our attentions quickly to Wednesday with a big test against Everton.

"Bournemouth ask you certain questions and unfortunately we didn't find enough answers. Their first was from a channel ball which we worked on for ages, ages, and we didn't deal with it.

"Crazy, crazy penalties to give away. We have to write those off, because you can't win games if you concede goals like that. Any error as big as those at this level is going to be tough to bounce back from. We've given ourselves a mountain to climb which we haven't done in the last four games."

(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar)