Neves scores penalty and Sá saves one to edge Wolves past Nottingham Forest

José Sá may be playing with a broken wrist but his save from Brennan Johnson’s late penalty gave Wolves a big helping hand as, combined with Rúben Neves’s successful spot-kick, the managerless West Midlanders moved out of the relegation zone.

The Portuguese goalkeeper, who also salvaged a point against Fulham in August when saving Aleksandar Mitrovic’s penalty, dived to repel Johnson’s spot-kick in the 79th minute to deepen Forest’s struggles in a derby dominated by four big equally shared VAR calls.

Steve Davis, the Wolverhampton-born caretaker manager since Bruno Lage’s dismissal a fortnight ago, was able to celebrate his first win as Wolves prepare to step up their pursuit of a permanent new coach this coming week.

Wolves will have taken pleasure from the victory after a pre-match tweet from Nottingham Forest’s official account wound them up. The post showed Emmanuel Dennis taming three puppy Wolves, alongside the word ‘Playtime’, but was taken down at lunchtime.

The signing video of Diego Costa, with the veteran warrior taming three wolves, was rather more impressive than anything the team had produced this season so Forest’s hubris was perhaps justifiable. Still, it was bound to wind up home supporters and, it is understood, the players.

Wolves certainly played the first half with all points to prove and were unfortunate not to be leading, with Adama Traoré, in particular, leading Forest a merry dance but unable to conjure the requisite final pass.

He would cross long, as when left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri headed over with Costa growling for a near-post ball, or shoot wide of the near post, as he did when played in by Matheus Nunes, when the far side of the goal looked the better option.

Forest, who had won on three of