Wolves move clear of the drop
Wolves lifted themselves out of the bottom three of the Barclays Premier League for only the second time in five months following a comprehensive 4-0 defeat of 10-man Blackpool.
Matt Jarvis gave boss Mick McCarthy's men the perfect start with a second-minute opener before a moment of madness from Blackpool leading scorer DJ Campbell saw him sent off in the 43rd minute.
Wolves then made their numerical advantage count after the break as Jamie O'Hara and then substitute Sylvan Ebanks-Blake with a brace eased their club off the foot of the table into 17th.
The first half started and ended in nightmare fashion for Blackpool boss Ian Holloway as his side proved you are only as good as your last game.
That had been a sensational 3-1 victory over Spurs in midweek, one that had eased the Seasiders clear of the relegation zone, sending belief soaring they can survive in the top flight this season.
But after just 116 seconds Blackpool were swiftly brought crashing back down to earth as a four-man move culminated in Jarvis scoring his fourth goal of the season.
From deep inside Wolves territory, Ronald Zubar played a ball down the right wing into David Edwards, fit again after missing the 1-1 draw at West Brom last Sunday with a groin injury.
Edwards' short run was incisive as he cut inside his marker prior to feeding Adam Hammill, also restored to the starting line-up, just inside the Blackpool area.
Although Hammill's pass to his left was scuffed, it had enough pace on it to find Jarvis who brilliantly curled beyond Richard Kingson a 12-yard right-effort that had the majority of the crowd on their feet.
Then just over two minutes from the interval, with Blackpool having failed to seriously test goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, any hope of a comeback suffered a crucial setback.
Directly in front of Holloway, on the edge of his technical area, Campbell stupidly over-reacted to a slight shove in his back from Richard Stearman as the duo faced onto a long ball downfield.
The red mist descended as the much-shorter Campbell then turned on Stearman, and with both hands, shoved the centre-back in the face.
Making arguably his easiest decision all afternoon, referee Neil Swarbrick swiftly brandished the red card.
Turning on his heels, Campbell made the short walk to the dressing room, with not so much as an apologetic acknowledgement towards Holloway just yards from him.
The act of rage, from a player who had previously only been booked just once all season, will now see him miss the next three matches.
In between those two horror moments for Holloway, it was Wolves who had the better of the half, with Kingson pulling off one stunning save to deny Edwards from a 12-yard, left-foot half volley.
The home side did have the ball in the back of the net on a second occasion, only for Swarbrick to adjudge George Elokobi had fouled Kingson as he nodded the ball home.
As for a typically workmanlike Blackpool, their best opportunity was inadvertently set up by a stunning sliding challenge from Wolves captain Karl Henry on Keith Southern deep in his own half.
But it was a tackle made facing his own goal as the ball flew into the path of Luke Varney, who had minutes earlier replaced Sergei Kornilenko, only for the striker to slice his shot wide.
That was as good as it got for Blackpool for within 10 minutes of the restart the 10 men caved in, and with it went the last remaining hope of salvaging a point.
After Kingson had denied substitute Kevin Foley and O'Hara in the two minutes immediately prior to Wolves doubling their advantage, the latter was not to be denied.
Thanks primarily to a defence that stood off him, O'Hara rifled in a 22-yard, left-foot shot that bounced over the outstretched left hand of Kingson into the corner of his net for his second goal in a week.
With the spirit and stuffing knocked out of Blackpool, and as one-way traffic developed, they duly conceded a third 12 minutes from time.
Ebanks-Blake, who had replaced Zubar just after O'Hara's strike, tapped home from a yard courtesy of a precision cross from Kevin Foley.
In front of a record crowd for the new Molineux of 29,086, Ebanks-Blake then took his tally to six for the season with an angled left-foot drive beyond Kingson on the stroke of full time.
Wolverhampton 4-0 Blackpool: Match Report - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game as it happened.
Source: DSG
