Wolves edged their way out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers here Saturday as Djibril Cisse was sent off for the Londoners.
Cisse had made a dramatic start to his QPR career in midweek, scoring on his debut in the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa following his transfer window move to Loftus Road from Lazio.
But the Frenchman made headlines for all the wrong reasons on Saturday after being sent off for a clash with Roger Johnson as QPR let a 1-0 lead slip in a vital game for both sides.
QPR had got off to a dream start when another of their transfer window signings, Bobby Zamora, fired the Londoners into the lead on 16 minutes.
The 31-year-old striker had failed to score in previous debuts for Tottenham, West Ham and Fulham but ended that unhappy run with a confident finish after collecting Shaun Wright-Phillips' pass.
Wolves afternoon went from bad to worse shortly afterwards when loan signing Emmanuel Frimpong hobbled off to be replaced by Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
Yet Mick McCarthy's men were thrown a lifeline on 34 minutes after Cisse lost his cool following a clash with Johnson.
The striker was furious after being caught late by Johnson, grabbing the Wolves defender by the throat.
Referee Mark Clattenburg promptly booked Johnson for his challenge but stunned Rangers by reaching for red to dismiss Cisse.
Wolves then came roaring back after half-time, and equalised in the 46th minute when Matt Jarvis cut in from the left and blasted past Paddy Kenny.
The goal galvanised Wolves who were unlucky not to take the lead shortly afterwards when Steven Fletcher's header from six yards hit the crossbar.
Moments later Fletcher saw a mishit shot scooped off the line by Anton Ferdinand before Kenny saved Kevin Doyle's shot.
Eventually the Wolves pressure told, and substitute Doyle secured the club's first victory in 10 matches when he rifled home the winner on 71 minutes.
Source: AFP
