Jan Paul van Hecke scored a powerful late header to rescue a vital point for Brighton & Hove Albion as they battled back to draw 1-1 with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux as the home side conceded a late equaliser for the second match running.
The hosts looked set to claim their first Premier League win of the season, having taken a first-half lead when Marshall Munetsi’s volley deflected off Bart Verbruggen for an own goal by the Brighton 'keeper. This came just moments after Wolves head coach Vitor Pereira was shown a red card for irresponsible behaviour in the technical area.
Wolves dominated proceedings in large parts but were left to rue missed opportunities, including Jorgen Strand Larsen striking the foot of a post.
And Brighton salvaged a point late on when Van Hecke rose to meet a cross and headed the ball home in the 86th minute (below), to leave the hosts still seeking their first win.
The draw leaves Wolves rooted to the bottom of the table with just two points, while Brighton drop to 12th on nine points.
How the match unfolded
The match sprang to life in the 20th minute when Pereira was sent off for his reaction following a foul by Brighton's Carlos Baleba, though the hosts were seemingly spurred on, taking the lead less than a minute later.
A Danny Welbeck clearance fell straight to Munetsi, whose thunderous volley forced an own goal off Verbruggen, who could only parry the effort onto the bar and in off his back.
Wolves began the second half strongly. Strand Larsen held the ball up effectively before some slick build-up play culminated in Jhon Arias blazing over the bar from point-blank range.
Sam Johnstone was then called into action, as the Wolves goalkeeper produced a stunning diving save to deny Georginio Rutter’s powerful strike just before the hour.
Strand Larsen was denied by the woodwork in the 75th minute after a crafty run into the box as Wolves pushed for a second goal, but it was not to be for Pereira’s side, as Van Hecke rose above the defence to score with a clinical header following a quick corner.
Heartbreak once again for Wolves
It was late heartbreak for Wolves for the second successive match, as they were previously denied their first Premier League win of the season by Joao Palhinha’s stoppage-time equaliser for Tottenham Hotspur.
That outcome was cruelly repeated on Sunday as Van Hecke dragged Brighton level, leaving Wolves in a slump with just two points from their opening seven matches.
Still, they showed clear improvement against Spurs and looked solid against Brighton as well, with Pereira sticking to his newly implemented back-four set-up.
Wolves began the match calmly, despite limited opportunities, though Hwang Hee-chan will likely rue not taking on a shot himself after Van Hecke gave the ball away in the ninth minute.
Wolves seemed galvanised following Pereira’s sending off, forcing Verbruggen's own goal and maintaining pressure.
Hugo Bueno delivered a clever cross into the box, with Ladislav Krejci testing Verbruggen with a reflex save, before Hwang sent another promising effort over the bar from the edge of the area.
Strand Larsen’s miss ultimately ruled out any chance of a Wolves win, enabling Van Hecke to equalise with a clinical, unmarked header.
Despite Wolves' poor run of form, Pereira can take heart from their last two performances and will hope to pick up a victory in upcoming matches against promoted sides Sunderland and Burnley after the international break.
Brighton’s blushes spared
Brighton entered Sunday’s match on the back of a confidence-boosting 3-1 victory at Chelsea last time out, with Welbeck rewarded for his late double with a spot in the starting line-up.
But the Seagulls were initially unable to recapture the intensity and determination they showed in the second half at Stamford Bridge, as Welbeck’s miscued clearance opened the door for Wolves.
Verbruggen had done remarkably well to get a fingertip to Munetsi’s well-struck volley in the first place and could consider himself rather unfortunate to see the ball deflect into his own net.
Fabian Hurzeler’s side responded well after the break, though, with the attacking substitution of Rutter offering them a much-needed creative outlet.
Rutter combined well with Yankuba Minteh to force Johnstone into a spectacular diving stop as Brighton chased their leveller.
Seagulls substitute Maxim De Cuyper entered the fray shortly after and crossed from a quick corner for Van Hecke to head in powerfully, after a slight touch from Stefanos Tsmizas as the pair attacked the ball together.
Despite rescuing a point, Hurzeler will know that his side were not at their best and will need to rediscover their attacking spark ahead of a tough run of fixtures, including meetings with Newcastle United and Manchester United.
Match reports
Wolves report | Brighton report
What the managers said
Fabian Hurzeler: "We never gave up and at 1-1 we still tried to win the game. It was a good performance, not a great performance, but we showed character and personality."
Luis Miguel (Wolves' assistant manager): "First of all, I want to apologise for what happened with Vitor. It was a moment of frustration because of one little thing that happened in the game - with our team, nothing against Brighton or the referee.
"We lost two points again, against Spurs and now today, when we had the game under control. We had to suffer because Brighton are a good team and they are in a good situation in the table, not like us."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Wolves have already made 25 changes to their starting XI in the Premier League this season – through the first seven matches of a single campaign, only two sides have ever made more (29 for Man Utd in 2001/02 and 26 for Man City in 2012/13).
Van Hecke’s equaliser for Brighton was the 25th set-piece goal that Wolves have conceded in the Premier League since the start of last season (excluding penalties), the most by any team in this period.
Since the start of the 2022/23 season, Brighton have scored more own goals in league action than any other team in Europe’s big-five leagues (12).