Mexico's Raul Jimenez scored a gorgeous goal, but a stoppage-time penalty thwarted Wolves' Champions League hopes.
Raul Jimenez has had a fantastic season for Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the Mexican forward continued it with a fantastic goal, albeit in a disappointing result.
Jimenez's 17th Premier League goal of the season was a beauty, an instinctive volley that gave Wolves a 1-0 lead over Burnley on Wednesday–only for Chris Wood's stoppage time penalty to deliver a blow to Jimenez's side in its quest for a spot in European competition.
Jimenez's goal came after Matt Doherty's speculative blast from long range hit off the backside of a Burnley defender. The ball flew into Jimenez's path, and he wasted no time in swinging his right leg through for a perfectly executed volley from the edge of the box in the 76th minute of what had been a scoreless deadlock.
It looked like that would be enough for Wolves to move provisionally within a point of both Leicester City and Manchester United for fourth place, but the penalty deep into stoppage-time–one given as Doherty was protecting himself as Wood went up for a bicycle kick and had the ball come down off his arm–has made matters significantly more difficult.
Wolves now trail both clubs by three points, while both have a game in hand and unassailable edges in goal differential. It was confirmed that a top-four finish is required for a Champions League berth after Manchester City had its two-year European competition ban rescinded, and while fifth place would be good enough for a spot in the Europa League, it's now an uphill climb to reach either competition. Wolves close the season vs. Crystal Palace and Chelsea, knowing it likely needs to win both, while they will be watching the finale between Leicester and Man United quite closely depending on how those teams' next couple of games go.
As for the club's participation in Europe this season, Wolves have an away-goal edge over Olympiakos after their 1-1 draw in the opening leg of the round of 16 prior to the competition being suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. The second leg will take place Aug. 6 at the Molineux Stadium, with the winner to face either Roma or Sevilla in the quarterfinals. Jimenez has nine goals in Europe to go along with his league tally.