Julen Lopetegui unhappy with red cards but admits Wolves let Leeds United off the hook in 4-2 defeat

Jonny Otto was sent off for a second-half tackle on Luke Ayling and substitute Matheus Nunes was dismissed after protesting against Leeds' controversial fourth goal, which was given after a referee review on the VAR monitor.

It added to the painful nature of the defeat, which was in turn a huge win for the Whites as both sides fight to avoid relegation.

Leeds are now just a point behind Wolves with a game in hand on them.

Wolves had twice as many shots, twice as many on target and twice the possession of the visitors, yet found themselves 3-0 down before substitute Adama Traore helped drag them back into the contest.

The score was 3-2 when Jonny was sent off for a studs-up tackle which took him into Ayling's shins. Referee Michael Salisbury initially awarded a yellow card but changed his mind after watching the replays.

"He was driving the ball and in his last touch he lost a bit of control," said Lopetegui. "It was a very typical action.

"The other player, Ayling, arrived, but it was a yellow card in my opinion. We were very unlucky."

Rodrigo's stoppage-time goal to make it 4-2 was also reviewed on the VAR monitor. Traore's shirt was pulled in the build-up, but Salisbury decided it was not significant enough to chalk off the goal.

Unused substitute Nunes was furious about that, but Lopetegui said his dismissal was down to a misunderstanding.

"Their last goal was after a very clear foul on Adama," said the former Spain and Real Madrid coach. "He (Saalisbury) went to look at it but I don't agree. The image is very clear.

"He was really unlucky because the linesman bumped with Nunes, not Nunes with him. I think they will change this decision. The image was very clear. He didn't have any intention.

"I don't want an explanation I'm not waiting for one.

"I understand a little bit about football but the last match was the same.

"I don't want an explanation, I want fair decisions and not the sensation that it's unbalanced your work."

Asked if he thought the Premier League referees are good enough, he replied: "I think yes but we are very unlucky with a lot of decisions.

"We have to hope sometimes the decisions will be in our favour.

"If I don't believe in them (the referees), I have to go. I believe.

"I dont want to put the focus on this because it's not in our control."

As for what was in their control, Lopetegui was very unhappy with his team's work at both ends of the field.

"It's not easy to analyse today's match," he said."After the gameplan we had, we developed it very well. We had a lot of chances, so many, but when you miss chances and you (concede) the only (first-half) chance they have.

"We had a very clear penalty (for a Junior Firpo tackle on Nelson Semedo) but the referee and the VAR thinks the opposite. I don't understand. It was very, very clear.

"Junior Firpo doesn't touch the ball. They had a fantastic image on TV. (Semedo) suffered a very big knock, an injury in the knee.

"Sometimes I can understand a mistake. They're part of football, I make mistakes every day. But for the same mistakes to be repeated for us is not easy.

"After we have things we have to improve. The second goal was a stupid goal for us.

"We made a big effort in the second half and we were very close to drawing the match but we missed a lot of chances again.

"Football is about being effective in both boxes and today we weren't."