Wolverhampton Wanderers made it three wins from four and ended Michael Appleton's unbeaten start to life as Blackpool manager this evening.
The visitors took the lead in just the third minute through Sylvan Ebanks-Blake but they sat back on their lead and invited pressure from Blackpool.
Appleton's Tangerines bombarded the Wolves goal but couldn't equalise through a combination of spurned chances and sublime goalkeeping from Carl Ikeme.
They were made to pay when Chris Basham tugged Bakary Sako in the box and Ebanks-Blake tucked away his second from 12 yards. Alex Baptiste pulled one back in the 89th minute but it was too little too late.
Here, Sports Mole casts its eye over the 90 minutes on the Lancashire coast.
Match statistics:
Blackpool:
Shots 24
On target 15
Possession 56%
Corners 6
Fouls 8
Wolves:
Shots 5
On target 2
Possession 44%
Corners 3
Fouls 12
Was the result fair?
Errrm, no. Wolves were out of the blocks extremely quickly and deservedly took the lead after three minutes camped in the Blackpool half. From then on, however, it was all-Tangerine and but for the hosts' wastefulness in front of goal and the exploits of Wolves stopper Carl Ikeme, the result would have been very different.
Blackpool's performance
They may have lost the game but Blackpool showed what they're about - swift, attacking football that is pleasing on the eye. The highly sought-after Thomas Ince lived up to his name with his mazy runs but twice in the first half he perhaps made the wrong decision by first attempting to square to Wes Thomas when shooting may have been a better option, before going it alone when a pass to the unmarked Thomas would have guaranteed an equaliser.
Wolves' performance
Defiant. That's probably the right adjective. The visitors started brightly and scored a neat goal but sat far too deep for the following 70 minutes. When they did double their lead it came after their first spell of maintained possession.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Carl Ikeme: No doubt who deserves this accolade tonight. Wolves keeper Ikeme was truly immense, especially in a 90-second period five minutes after the break. First he clawed away Tiago Gomes's flicked header before keeping out Ince's curled effort for a corner and then diving to his right to again keep out Ince's volley from the resulting set piece.
Biggest gaffe
Despite being Wolves' match winner, Ebanks-Blake definitely takes this award. The number nine should have had a hat-trick late on when he was set free on goal and rounded Matt Gilks, only to slice horribly high and wide in front of an open goal as the ball bobbled up beneath him.
Referee performance
David Coote had an excellent game, truly. He made bold, correct decisions throughout and this was typified by his award of the penalty. Basham's tug on Sako may have been overlooked by many but it was enough to halt the winger's run and this was recognised by Coote.
What next?
Blackpool: The Seasiders next travel to Huddersfield Town on Boxing Day.
Wolves: Stale Solbakken's side welcome lowly Peterborough United to Molineux on the same day.
Pascal Lemesre
