Wolves 1 Brighton 1 - Report

Vitor Pereira was given his marching orders just 20 minutes into the match for kicking a ball away in frustration and in a breathless few minutes, Wolves took the lead within seconds of his sending off.

Marshall Munetsi’s powerful shot was saved onto the crossbar by Bart Verbruggen, but then hit the goalkeeper’s back and crossed the line.

Sam Johnstone pulled off one superb save in the second half, but Wolves otherwise managed the occasion well to hold onto their lead.

That was until the 86th minute, when Jan Paul Van Hecke headed Brighton level to share the points.

Analysis

Pereira made one change from the team that drew with Spurs last time out, as the head coach stuck with the 4-3-3 formation.

Jackson Tchatchoua came in for Matt Doherty at wing-back, who had surgery on a broken wrist earlier in the week and was ruled out of the game.

Toti Gomes was also unavailable due to illness, meaning Ki-Jana Hoever and Yerson Mosquera were back in the squad and named on the bench.

Fabian Hurzeler made three changes to his Brighton side after their win over Chelsea, with Joel Veltman and Kaoru Mitoma out injured.

Georginio Rutter also dropped to the bench, as Mats Wieffer, Brajan Gruda and Danny Welbeck came into the team.

It was a relatively even start to the game as both sides settled into the fixture. 

The first inroad came from Wolves as Munetsi played a lovely ball for Hwang Hee-chan on the left flank, but his cut back for Jorgen Strand Larsen was intercepted.

The game turned on its head in the 20th minute when head coach Pereira was given a straight red card by referee Jarred Gillett, following a poor Carlos Baleba foul on Hugo Bueno, which he was booked for. It also came moments after no foul was given for a shirt tug on Joao Gomes and the red card was specifically for kicking a ball in frustration, which landed in the officials’ dugout that sits in between the home and away dugouts.

From the resulting free-kick, just seconds after Pereira walked down the tunnel, Wolves took the lead.

The free-kick was cleared as far as Munetsi who unleashed a fierce strike that was saved superbly by Verbruggen onto the crossbar, but it bounced off the goalkeeper’s back to cross the line, put Wolves into the lead and send Molineux into raptures.

The hosts were buoyed by the goal and Wolves pushed for a second, as Ladislav Krejci had a header saved from another set piece.

The Seagulls still posed a threat, however, and tested Wolves’ defence throughout.

Wolves took their lead into half-time, as the visitors brought on some attacking reinforcements.

But Wolves continued to look dangerous from counter-attacks as they looked to build on their slim lead.

Brighton did have a good chance from a free-kick on the edge of the box, but centre-back Lewis Dunk took it and fired over the bar.

Wolves had a huge chance to double their lead when Larsen held up a long ball and brought his team-mates into play. It was worked to the left side and H.Bueno pulled the ball back for Jhon Arias, who was free from eight yards, but he leant back and lashed it over the bar.

Moments later, Johnstone was called upon to make a huge save. Rutter made contact from a cross and the ball seemed destined for the top corner, until the goalkeeper pulled off an impressive instinctive save to keep Wolves in the lead.

Wolves switched to a back five after an hour, as Emmanuel Agbadou came on to replace Hwang.

That change saw Wolves sit back in their shape and defend their slim lead, as Brighton pushed for a way back into the game.

But the hosts created a chance when Larsen dropped the shoulder and found a way through, only to see his near post shot come back off the woodwork.

The striker was then taken off moments later, in the 77th minute, as Wolves aimed to shut up shop. The Norwegian was seemingly angry at the decision.

The Seagulls were putting a lot of crosses into the box and piling on the pressure, but Wolves’ physical defence was standing firm.

That was until the 86th minute when Brighton equalised. A short corner was eventually crossed in and after Van Hecke got ahead of David Moller Wolfe, he was virtually unmarked as he headed into the bottom corner.

Wolves had opportunities to get the ball into the box for a late winner but they lacked quality at the vital moment.

Andre made a late tactical foul to deny a Brighton counter-attack and he gladly took the booking, which caused a coming together between both benches.

The final whistle came shortly after and Wolves’ search for a first win goes on.

They now go into a trip to Sunderland after the international break, before welcoming Burnley to Molineux.

Key Moments

RED CARD 20 Head coach Pereira is sent off

GOAL 21 A Verbruggen own goal, from a Munetsi shot, puts Wolves into the lead

GOAL 86 Van Hecke heads Brighton level

Teams

Wolves: Johnstone, Tchatchoua, S.Bueno, Krejci, H.Bueno (Wolfe, 77), Andre, J.Gomes (Mosquera, 91), Munetsi (Arokodare, 91), Arias, Hwang (Agbadou, 60), Larsen (Bellegarde, 77).

Subs not used: Sa, Hoever, R.Gomes, Lopez.

Brighton: Verbruggen, Wieffer (De Cuyper, 70), Van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu, Baleba (Rutter, 45), Ayari, Minteh, Gomez (Milner, 77), Gruda (Tzimas, 70), Welbeck.

Subs not used: Steele, Boscagli, Coppola, Kostoulas, Watson.