Exclusive: Cunha faces extra FA fine and ban after Wolves v Bournemouth madness
Wolves striker Matheus Cunha will have to be dealt with by the club and manager Vitor Pereira after his red card against Bournemouth, Keith Hackett has said.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the 25-year-old may need to attend a course in order to address some of his recent outburts.
Wolves were knocked out of the FA Cup by Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on penalties on Saturday (1 March) following a 1-1 draw in normal time.
It was a stunning long-range strike from Cunha that had pulled the visitors level after Evanilson had opened the scoring for Andoni Iraola’s side.
However a moment of madness from the striker late in extra time has now left him facing a potential punishment.
Matheus Cunha sent off after Milos Kerkez clash
With just moments remaining in extra time, Cunha became embroiled in a tussle with Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez.
That then led to an angry reaction from the Wolves striker, appeared to swing his arms in the direction of his opponent, before pushing his head into the face of the Hungarian international.
| Matheus Cunha for Wolves in 2024/25 | Total (as per Transfermarkt) |
| Appearances | 29 |
| Goals | 15 |
| Assists | 4 |
| Yellow Cards | 2 |
| Red Cards | 1 |
Cunha was unsurprisingly sent off by referee Sam Barrott, but seemingly refused to depart the touchline, arguing with staff at the side of the pitch as they directed him towards the dressing room.
It was an incident that left many pundits shocked by the actions of the Wolves attacker, which potentially cost them their best penalty taker for the shooutout as well.
Earlier this season, Cunha was involved in a clash with an Ipswich Town staff member at full-time in that game, leading to him receiving a two-match suspension and £60,000 fine.
Now, Hackett believes that could be taken into account when the Wolves striker is punished for this incident, also suggesting the club may need to address the issue directly with him.
‘Wolves and Vitor Periera to act after red card at Bournemouth’ – Keith Hackett
Speaking to Football Insider about that sending off for Cunha against Bournemouth, the former referee said:
“The behaviour of this player is totally unacceptable and his actions damage the image of the game. The first question to ask is how will his manager and Wolves deal with their employee.
“He clearly needs to attend a course to try to improve his behaviour. The FA are having a busy weekend and the fine and suspension needs to be appropriate taking into account his previous sanctions.”
Wolves are currently five points clear of the Premier League relegation, and are next in action when they host Everton at Molineux on Saturday (8 March).