- The Wolves came back from 2-0 down and tied with Brighton in the Premier League
- The locals were two goals up with two minutes left in regulation time.
- LISTEN NOW: It’s all starting!available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday.
The Wolves may still be searching for a first win of the season, but this must have felt like a victory for Gary O’Neil, whose side came back from two goals down to earn a dramatic 93rd-minute equaliser.
Brighton looked home and went ahead when Danny Welbeck and Evan Ferguson gave Fabian Hurzeler’s team a comfortable lead with five minutes remaining.
But Rayan Ait-Nouri and Matheus Cunhad rescued a point for the beleaguered Wolves boss and left the visitors’ final in ecstasy.
Brighton stand-in captain Welbeck, who turns 34 next month, continued to turn back the clock as he continued his rich run of form with his sixth goal of the season.
Hurzeler was dealt a heavy blow before kick-off as captain Lewis Dunk was injured in the warm-up and was unable to lead the team in his 250th Premier League appearance. Igor Julio started and Welbeck picked up the armband.
The first chance of the game went to Wolves with Tommy Doyle shooting high over the bar after a Cunha cut-back.
Brighton’s first chance fell to Welbeck, whose header from Ferdi Kadioglu’s cross landed on the roof of the net.
Albion slowly took control of the first half and their brightest moments, unsurprisingly, came from Karou Mitoma as she came in from the left.
Amid a flurry of corners from Brighton, one fell to Carlos Baleba and the Cameroonian unleashed a fierce volley from 25 yards which José Sa did well to deflect.
Mitoma had a chance when Kadioglu’s cross was deflected into his path, but Sa quickly came off his line to smother the danger as Brighton continued to press.
Brighton’s pressure was extremely high and Wolves were struggling to overcome it. They fared better when Craig Dawson moved away from Matheus Cunha. He beat Julio in a foot race but the excellent Baleba recovered at lightning speed to dispossess him.
Just when Wolves looked to have weathered the storm, a costly mistake by Sa saw them fall behind on the stroke of half-time.
His clearance went straight to Kadioglu, who quickly found Georginio Rutter, who in turn found Welbeck, who deftly swept the ball into the far corner for his sixth goal of an impressive season.
O’Neil stomped furiously down the tunnel and quickly made two changes at half-time and returned to a back four.
This made the Wolves a little more compact, but they still worked for chances. One of them came when Pablo Sarabia passed the ball down the sideline to Cunha, who shot wide of the far post, and Cunha also saved from Bart Verbruggen shortly after.
With Wolves pushing for an equaliser, two of Brighton’s substitutes combined to seal the victory five minutes from time. An electric counter-attack from Tariq Lamptey left several Wolves players behind him and fed Evan Ferguson to sweep the ball into the corner.
That should have led to a calm finish for Brighton, but Wolves pulled one back three minutes later when Rayan Ait-Nouri was on hand to tap in a loose ball after Brighton struggled to clear a corner.
Brighton then broke away with a three-on-one, but Mats Wieffer wasted a direct pass to Tommy Doyle, who lofted the ball towards Cunha. The Brazilian had a huge dose of luck when his shot deflected off Jan Paul van Hecke and hit the crossbar, but O’Neil won’t mind that.
