Brighton 2-2 Wolves: Matheus Cunha scores added-time equaliser as Gary O'Neil's side rescue dramatic point

Report and free match highlights as Wolves rescue late 2-2 draw at Brighton; Danny Welbeck fires hosts in front during first half; Evan Ferguson doubles lead in 85th minute; Rayan Ait-Nouri pulls one back for Wolves; Matheus Cunha smashes in 93rd-minute equaliser; Wolves move off bottom

Saturday 26 October 2024 20:10, UK

Wolves came back from being 2-0 down in the 85th minute to snatch a point at Brighton after Matheus Cunha scored a dramatic added-time equaliser.

Gary O'Neil's side remain winless, although they have moved off the bottom of the Premier League and showed their fighting spirit to leave their boss convinced they will "definitely be fine this season".

"My main thing around today is how deep they've had to dig to achieve something here today," O'Neil said. "Not just because we're 2-0 down, but we're 2-0 down and we've not won a game yet and they've still managed to find a way."

Brighton looked set to claim their third consecutive victory and jump into the top four when substitute Evan Ferguson clinically doubled their lead late on after Wolves had dominated the second half.

But the visitors pulled one back in the 88th minute at a corner through Rayan Ait-Nouri's close-range finish before Brighton squandered a four-on-one opportunity to finish the match. Wolves' Tommy Doyle intercepted and quickly got the ball forward to Cunha, whose shot deflected in off the underside of the crossbar in the 93rd minute.

It was the least Wolves deserved having forced goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen into several saves during the second period from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Cunha.

O'Neil's team had defended resolutely in the first half until they were undone by Jose Sa's mistake, the goalkeeper misplacing his pass which allowed Brighton to quickly slip in the in-form Danny Welbeck, who found the bottom corner shortly before the interval.

Player ratings:

Brighton: Verbruggen (6); Veltman (6), Van Hecke (6), Igor (6), Estupinan (7); Kadioglu (7), Baleba (7), Ayari (7), Mitoma (6); Rutter (7), Welbeck (7).

Subs: Gruda (5), Ferguson (7), Lamptey (6), Wieffer (5), Enciso (n/a)

Wolves: Sa (5); Bueno (6), Dawson (7), Toti (6); Semedo (7), J. Gomes (7), Doyle (7), Lemina (5), Ait-Nouri (7); Strand Larsen (7), Cunha (8).

Subs: Forbs (5), Sarabia (6), Guedes (n/a), Andre (n/a), Gomes (n/a)

Player of the Match: Matheus Cunha

Boyd: Wolves must take confidence from performances

Sky Sports' Kris Boyd:

"The first half didn't work for Wolves. Brighton were in total domination and could have been out of sight, but they were able to change it and get themselves back into it.

"If they hadn't been able to do that and they lost another game, they would have been speaking about another decent performance and not picked up anything.

"Wolves have got to take the confidence, even from the performance against Manchester City last week, to build on that. They made the changes, they got back in it, and they are a threat going forward.

"They've got signs there that they can improve."

Hurzeler: We weren't mature or professional enough

Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler said:

"With the second goal, I had the feeling that we were too passive, that we were going to have this consequence. We conceded an easy set-piece goal, then we had the chance to make the third goal and they made the equaliser from the transition.

"We have to quickly learn from this because we were not mature enough. We were not professional enough to win games like this. I know it's still a young team with a lot of potential, but we have to learn quick out of experiences like this.

"That's football, and football is sometimes brutal. We experienced it in a bad way, so we failed. Now it's important to stay positive, to find positive things, to stay together. In these moments, when you fail, you can show your character, you can show your personality, and that's what I expect now."

O'Neil: We were due something to go our way

Wolves head coach Gary O'Neil said:

"I am very pleased. I thought we were by far the better side and created loads of chances.

"We were aggressive, but at 85 minutes when they scored their second goal, I thought I was going to be stood here answering some more tough questions about how you played quite well again, but it's another defeat.

"I'm delighted for the players and the fans. The players have given so much, and I know it cannot always look that way because the results can cloud things, but they've given an awful lot.

"If you keep doing that, it can't continue to go against you. We were due a break and due something to go our way, and today we kept going."