Matheus Cunha rescues rare point for Wolves as Brighton are held at home

Posted Sunday, October 27, 2024 by PA

Winless Wolves snatched only their second point of the Premier League season after Matheus Cunha’s stoppage-time effort rescued a dramatic 2-2 draw at Brighton.

Albion were on course to climb to fourth in the table following goals from Danny Welbeck and Evan Ferguson.

But Rayan Ait-Nouri set up a nervy finish by halving the deficit in the 88th minute before Cunha fired home via a deflection in the third minute of stoppage time to move Wanderers off the bottom of the table.

Brighton only had themselves to blame for the late collapse as they squandered a four-on-one situation, prior to being punished by the leveller on the counter-attack.

Wolves manager Gary O’Neil did little to hide his sense of injustice following last weekend’s controversial last-gasp 2-1 loss to Manchester City and could hardly contain his delight at full-time.

Wolves leapfrog Southampton in the relegation zone, while Albion remain fifth after being denied a third consecutive top-flight win.

Brighton suffered a blow before kick-off when captain Lewis Dunk, who was set to make his 250th Premier League appearance, injured his calf in the warm-up and was replaced in the starting XI by Igor Julio.

Albion’s rejigged backline was carved open inside nine minutes as Wolves passed up a golden opportunity.

Cunha easily escaped Joel Veltman down the left but, after pulling the ball back, the unmarked Tommy Doyle, who scored on this ground last month in a 3-2 Carabao Cup loss, wastefully side-footed over.

Wolves were on the back foot for large parts of the first half and required a fine save from goalkeeper Jose Sa to deny a long-range drive from impressive Seagulls midfielder Carlos Baleba.

The lowly visitors looked to have done enough to go into the break level before gifting Brighton a 45th-minute opener.

After Sa’s woeful kick fell at the feet of Ferdi Kadioglu, Georginio Rutter slipped in stand-in skipper Welbeck, who calmly dispatched a first-time finish into the bottom left corner.

O’Neil responded with a double substitution as skipper Mario Lemina and Toti Gomes were replaced by Pablo Sarabia and Carlos Forbs for the second period.

Sarabia gave Wanderers greater attacking impetus, albeit clear chances for a leveller were initially limited.

Cunha flashed a low effort across goal after being fed by the Spanish substitute before a close-range header from Jorgen Strand Larsen was kept out by Seagulls keeper Bart Verbruggen.

Brighton appeared content to settle for a narrow success before seemingly putting the result beyond doubt five minutes from time.

Tariq Lamptey led the counter-attack down the right, allowing fellow substitute Ferguson to swivel and fire into the bottom left corner.

Any prospect of Albion fans avoiding a nervy finish were quickly extinguished as Ait-Nouri powered home after the ball bounced loose following a corner.

The away end were celebrating again minutes later when Brighton paid a heavy price for needlessly pouring players forward.

Cunha did the damage, driving a low effort which flicked off Jan Paul van Hecke and flew into the net via the underside of the crossbar.

Having sensationally halted a run of five successive defeats, Wolves face crucial home clashes against fellow strugglers Crystal Palace and Southampton in the next two weeks.