Oct 27,2024
Evan Ferguson ended an 11-month goal drought when putting Brighton 2-0 up against Wolves, but Gary O'Neill's side fought back to earn a share of the spoils at the Amex Stadium.
Ferguson came on as a second-half substitute for Danny Welbeck, who earlier had given the hosts the lead.
Tariq Lamptey led a counter-attack down the right, allowing Ferguson to swivel and fire into the bottom left corner on 85 minutes.
Rayan Ait-Nouri set up a nervy finish by halving the deficit in the 88th minute before Matheus 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 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. As a result, young Irish goalkeeper Killian Cahill came into the squad.
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 with Ferguson finding the net - his first goal in the top flight since scoring against Nottingham Forest on 25 November 2023.
However, Wolves had other ideas.
Additional reporting: PA
