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Jørgen Strand Larsen, denied a £55m move to Newcastle at the end of the transfer window, remonstrated angrily with Wolves’ coaching staff on the full-time whistle after he had been substituted late on, just after shooting against a post with Wolves leading through Bart Verbruggen’s own goal, as Brighton pushed for a late equaliser which finally arrived from Jan Paul van Hecke.
For the second successive week, Wolves’ attempt to get their season up and running was stymied by a late equaliser. Vítor Pereira, the Wolves manager, had been sent off just before the Premier League’s bottom side went ahead, through Marshall Munetsi’s volley rebounding off the bar and in off the Brighton goalkeeper.
Fabian Hürzeler’s side deserved a point for their second-half dominance but Wolves, for the second game in a row after their draw at Tottenham, looked as if they were going to hang on for a first league victory of the season before conceding a late equaliser.
Strand Larsen looked Wolves’ best bet for a crucial second goal and the home team looked less able to get out with Jhon Arias leading the line. The game had exploded into life in the middle of the first half.
Periera was furious at Jarred Gillett’s decision not to award a free-kick when João Gomes was jostled by Carlos Baleba midway in the Brighton half and then, after the referee cautioned Baleba for an altogether clearer foul on Hugo Bueno, the red card was shown to the Wolves manager for his booting a spare ball off a cone at the officials’ dugout. Although he promptly apologised, it was clearly a dangerous act. The fire had been lit.
When a long free-kick into the Brighton area was nodded back into the danger area, Danny Welbeck only managed to head the ball out as far as Munetsi, to the right of the penalty spot, who dispatched a veritable hammer of a shot goalwards. Although Verbruggen managed to tip the ball against the underside of the crossbar, it rebounded down and over the line off the goalkeeper’s glove.
One almost became two only for Verbruggen to very deliberately tip Ladislav Krejci’s header, from another long diagonal free-kick, over the bar. Brighton, with their deeply impressive record at Molineux – they had won their four previous games here – and a good start to the season to boot, counterattacked with occasional menace.
When Jackson Tchatatchoua underhit a back-pass, Brajan Gruda was entitled to challenge Sam Johnstone for the ball, although he did catch the Wolves goalkeeper with his follow-through. After a tetchy spell, the importance of the next goal became increasingly obvious. It almost went Wolves’ way, early in the second half, only for Jhon Arias to sidefoot over the bar from six yards after a superb counterattack led by Strand Larsen, after he allowed Hwang Hee-chan to invite the overlapping Hugo Bueno to cross low.
Brighton, somewhat undercooked in the first half, looked stronger for the introduction of Georginio Rutter and, from Yankuba Minteh’s left-wing cross, the substitute could barely have caught his half-volley any more sweetly.
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Johnstone, however, justifying his retention in goal over José Sá, dived back to his right to save.Hürzeler had already asked Yasin Ayari to man the back of his midfield on his own, leading Brighton to greater territorial dominance, when he introduced the striker Stefanos Tzimas to join Welbeck in attack, with Diego Gómez just behind them.
Brighton have scored more goals against Wolves than against any other team in the Premier League. But Wolves were determined to hang on to what they held and so nearly put the game to bed when Strand Larsen shot against the foot of the post. The Norway striker, still seeking full fitness after an achilles injury, did not look impressed when he was withdrawn moments later as Luis Miguel, Pereira’s assistant, looked to shore up the victory. The move backfired however as Brighton equalised with four minutes remaining.
Wolves felt the ball had already gone behind for a goal-kick when Tchatatchoua made sure by nudging it on. From Minteh’s short corner, Maxim De Cuyper crossed and, after Tzimas got a slight flick-on, Van Hecke thudded home only his second goal in 77 league games for the club.
