Wolves Bite Back

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-3 Brighton & Hove Albion

(Sako 22, Doumbia 61, Johnson 90, Mackail-Smith 43, Buckley 72, Dobbie pen 89)

Well I did joke that it would a cracker. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect that! Arguably two of the divison's tightest and lowest-scoring sides served up one of the games of the season so far. It had everything. Terrible defending, great attacking play, a screamer of a goal, disgraceful refereeing (I'll get to that in a moment) and so many other issues to debate long into the night! However, it seems all the effort, passion and desire that has been missing from the last few games came back with real gusto today!

At the start, I thought it was gonna be another of those days as we started very very poorly. Indeed, Sako's goal was the first real move where we actually got at Brighton and played some very clever, intricate football. I have been (as you know), very critical of Sako lately but whilst he faded at times in the second half, he was very good at times today. A lot more movement from him and so much more willing to take players on than he has been recently. I can hold my hands up and admit, I was very impressed by him today. But whilst we saw the very best of him for his goal, we saw the worst of him for Brighton's equaliser. A lazy return pass to Ward was way too short and gave Brighton the chance to get clear of Ward and put in a very good ball for a sublime finish by Craig Mackail-Smith.

Brighton celebrate their late penalty to make it 3-2

Then came the first of the afternoon's big talking points. The red card for Karl Henry. To me, it looked incredibly harsh. He did perhaps lead with the studs showing but it was a one-footed tackle and their player got straight back up. Have just seen it on the FLS and tbh, I can see why he's been sent off. It was quite high, but I think personally the referee was too quick to act. A yellow might well have sufficed. But Solbakken has said it was the right decision so I can't really argue with that. But it was just the start of a very bad day for Scott Mathieson. He walked off to a chorus of boos from the Molineux faithful. But in the second-half his day got worse. He could perhaps have sent off the Brighton player for his lunge at Sigurdarson, and possibly should've given a foul on Tongo Doumbia in the build-up to Brighton's equaliser (to make it 2-2), and his decision to award a penalty at the end was absolutely disgraceful. It was never a penalty in a billion years. My only explanation is that the Seagulls had had a few handball appeals turned down and he decided to give this one. But it's a very poor decision and, thankfully, it hasn't cost us a point.

I must say, I was very disappointed with Brighton. I was expecting them to be very good going forward, with a lot of flair, and very solid at the back. But in all honesty, they only really threatened on the counter-attack and after they'd made it 2-2. For the first 25 minutes of the second half, we were all over the South-Coast side and should really have added to our advantage. Their defending for Johnson's goal was terrible too. If you're 3-2 up with about 2 minutes to go, you make sure your head is first on any ball into the box. Johnson's position - and with the ball going away from goal - should mean he doesn't score that. But fair play to him, he couldn't have picked a better moment to get his first goal for the club, and his celebration has endeared me to him even more! Another who's passion is always wonderful to see is Solbakken's. After Craig Mackail-Smith made it 1-1, Solbakken smashed the roof of his dugout. I don't think that's happened at Molineux in a long long time. At least fans can't accuse him of not caring!!

The dugout that took a beating from Solbakken

A lot of credit has to go to the fans today too. The atmosphere on the Southbank at 2-1 was one of the best I've heard. The fans stuck with the team for the whole game. A lot of that was, I think, down to the sense of injustice we all felt. But it worked. Molineux really was the frightening, intimidating fortress we've all been crying out for. Now if we can just do that from the start, we'll see such an improvement in our fortunes, I'm sure of it. One thing's for sure though, I have never celebrated a draw more in my life. We were all - Wolves and the travelling Seagulls - treated to an absolute cracker.

Next up is a trip to a Watford side who've stuck 6 past Leeds away today. Without Karl Henry, it'll be very tough but hopefully we can take some of the passion and good moments from today with us to Vicarage Road next week. I'll see you there!

Johnson equalises with a brilliant diving header

My Wolves MOTD: Roger Johnson. For the second game running, he was immense today. He dominated the box, got forward well (having an effort cleared off the line) and even cleared a Brighton shot off the line too. Great goal at the end too. A real captain's performance from him, just without the armband.

Wolves In A Word: Resillient

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