Read Ed Aarons’ report from the Amex:
While we wait for the report, a reminder of goings on elsewhere:
Aston Villa 1-4 Leicester City
Newcastle 2-1 Southampton
Norwich City 1-2 Sheffield United
Some lukewarm Wolves reaction. Conor Coady says when Wolves look back on that draw they will likely view it as a good point. “It is probably fair result,” says the skipper. “We are resilient but you have to be in the Premier League and you have to be able to comeback in games. We want to get in the lead and stay in the lead. Diogo scored two fantastic goals and it is up to us to defend better. Things are going OK but we need to keep going.” Diogo Jota says Wolves should have had a penalty because Brighton’s Lewis Dunk handled in the box. “I was there, one metre away,” he adds.
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Full-time: Brighton 2-2 Wolves
That’s that. The second half failed to live up to much after an entertaining opening 45 minutes. Wolves’ unbeaten run rolls on to 11 games. That draw lifts Wolves up to sixth and moves Brighton another point away from the relegation zone, level on points with Arsenal, who take on West Ham on Monday. Nuno Espírito Santo will probably be the happier of the two managers but both teams squandered chances to clinch victory.
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90+2 min: ... Moutinho overhits his cross. Brighton get off the hook. And Nuno withdraws a bruised Traoré. On comes Ruben Vinagre.
90+2 min: Traoré earns Wolves a free-kick 20 yards from goal after Dale Stephens crudely takes out the winger. Moutinho fancies it ...
90 min: There will be three added minutes. Neves just picked out Cutrone with a wonderful ball into the box but the Italian could not generate any power on his header. Cutrone had skirted away from Webster, too.
89 min: Burn tries to find Maupay but overcooks his through ball. Nice idea. Can either team fashion a late winner?
87 min: A route-one ball into Cutrone causes no end of problems for Adam Webster, with Dunk equally missing. Cutrone cuts the ball back in search of Pedro Neto but Brighton rally to make life difficult. For a moment it seemed Neto would sweep home Cutrone’s cross but Brighton made amends for some sloppy defending.
86 min: Jon Moss gives Neal Maupay a nice little ticking off after the striker gives Matt Doherty a shove as the Wolves wing-back takes a throw-in. Nuno has a word with Maupay before Moss prevents any anger from escalating. And now the Wolves substitutes almost combine ...
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85 min: Patrick Cutrone replaces Raúl Jiménez.
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81 min: Burn is booked for scything down Adama Traoré on halfway, abruptly ending Wolves’ hopes of a swift counterattack. Wolves poured forward after Stephens failed to seize on a mix-up between Patricio and Doherty. The goalkeeper and right-back both tried to clear a ball at the back post, leading to a messy scramble in the box. Stephens picked up possession, striding into the 18-yard box but failed to get a shot away.
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80 min: Murray tries and fails to buy a corner out of Dendoncker, who has again had a very steady game on the right of a back three.
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77 min: Pedro Neto replaces Diogo Jota, who was on a hat-trick for Wolves. Jota gets a little bum-pat as he trudges towards the dugout. A good day’s work for the Portuguese.
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75 min: Dunk is booked for taking out Traoré, just as the Wolves winger went into full tilt. Dan Burn had already caught the winger on halfway before Dunk teamed up on Traoré, wiping him out as he zoomed towards the final third. Burn has not been too troubled by Traoré – yet.
71 min: Jonny presumably spent half-time watching far too many clips of Davy Pröpper. The Wolves midfielder gifts possession straight to the opposition, just as Pröpper did for Wolves’ second. Dale Stephens obligingly collects the ball 20 yards from goal and unleashes a rocket. It swerves just wide of Patricio’s right post. A decent effort!
69 min: Maupay bends a shot at goal and Patricio saves! Other than that, not an awful lot to report but Wolves do look rather comfortable. That Potter sought to make changes suggest he is not so happy. As for Maupay, the Frenchman has been a fine signing from Brentford.
68 min: Jahanbakhsh is on for his second Premier League appearance of the season. The Iranian is on for Groß. Murray replaces Trossard.
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65 min: Potter is seeking changes. Glenn Murray and Alireza Jahanbakhsh are stripped and ready for action down in the home dugout. Jahanbakhsh, a £17m signing, is reportedly set to be loaned out in January.
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62 min: Burn does well v Doherty to prevent the Wolves wing-back from crossing from the right flank. Back to that penalty shout, a grounded Dunk tried absolutely everything to avoid making any contact with his flailing arms but inadvertently rolled the ball on to his right hand with his head.
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61 min: No penalty.
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60 min: After a period of nothing, things go mad. Jota tries to stab the ball goalwards and the VAR crew are having a good look at what Wolves believe was a handball by Lewis Dunk. It would be extremely harsh ...
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59 min: A bit of a lull at the Amex. Saying that, Wolves supporters are belting out the infectious Si Señor, the Raúl version.
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55 min: The corner itself comes to nothing but they recycle things and Leandro Trossard sends a daisy-cutter flying into the advertising hoardings. It was not as wayward as it sounds.
54 min: Maupay makes something out of nothing and ends up earning Brighton a corner after his shot is deflected wide. Maupay had three Wolves defenders for company but none could truly extinguish the danger.
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49 min: If Raúl Jiménez is underrated, then Diogo Jota is criminally overlooked. He has been a pest throughout and seems intent on completing his hat-trick. His second goal was wonderfully taken.
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48 min: Jota skates on to a neat ball by Traoré but Ryan rushes out and whacks it clear for a throw-in. If in in doubt ...
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47 min: Burn is alert to Matt Doherty, who made a cracking run into the box from wing-back. A quiet start to the second period.
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46 min: Brighton get the second half going. Another four goals?
Half-time: Brighton 2-2 Wolves
Goals galore at the Amex but Brighton will be cussing. Graham Potter’s side shot themselves in the foot on the brink of the interval to gift Wolves a route back into the game, just as it seemed to be getting away from them. Diogo Jota has twice coolly finished for the visitors, with Neal Maupay and then Davy Pröpper on the scoresheet for Brighton. Aaron Mooy almost found a third for Brighton before Pröpper cheaply surrendered possession, allowing Jonny to find Jota, who did the rest.
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GOAL! Brighton 2-2 Wolves (Jota, 44)
It’s a gift from a Brighton perspective. Pröpper turns from hero to villain, with his loose ball running kindly for Jonny, who has the nous to pick out Jota in the box. Jota calmly swivels and fires low into the corner. It’s a better finish than he will get credit for. A fourth goal at the end of a lively first half.
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42 min: It drops for Neves but Brighton are quick to close the ball down so he spreads play out to Moutinho, who took the corner. But the Portuguese is offside. Suddenly nothing is going Wolves’ way and Brighton, who fly up the other end, are swarming all over the visitors. Brighton force another corner but it comes to nothing.
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40 min: Adama Traoré runs into a Brighton cul-de-sac, with Dunk and Burn doubling up on the Wolves winger. Wolves corner ...
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39 min: And Aaron Mooy almost makes it three! Brighton are stitching together some lovely stuff. Mooy, who influence is growing at Brighton, drags inches wide of Patricio’s right post after some more patient buildup play. Wolves look shell-shocked by that quickfire double.
GOAL! Brighton 2-1 Wolves (Pröpper, 36)
A free header! Aaron Mooy gets to the byline, taking Dendoncker and Doherty with him before nudging the ball into the path of Leandro Trossard. The Belgian digs out a wonderful cross for Davy Pröpper to nod in beyond Patricio. Suddenly, Brighton lead; there were just 96 seconds between Brighton equalising and leading.
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GOAL! Brighton 1-1 Wolves (Maupay, 34)
Out of nothing, a rocket by Neal Maupay ripples the Wolves net. Dale Stephens floats a wonderful pass over the top of the Wolves back line and, on the face of it, there seems to be little danger. Maupay has Conor Coady for company but as the ball bounces, the Frenchman smacks a first-time effort at goal, catching the unsuspecting Rui Patricio cold at his near post. It is a sweet strike, and Maupay’s second goal in four days.
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33 min: Ryan smothers the ball as Jota gets in behind! Jiménez is telepathic and knows exactly where to find his Wolves team-mate and the Brighton goalkeeper comes up trumps to deny Jota a second goal.
31 min: Beyond Jamie Vardy and Roberto Firmino is Raúl Jiménez the best No9 in the Premier League? What do we think? The Mexican is so much more than a goalscorer, too, au fait at bringing others into play, as he did for Jota’s opener. Saying that, he has found the net 15 times this season.
30 min: The omens are not good for Brighton, who have not won any of their past 20 matches at the Amex in the Premier League when conceding the first goal. Still, records are there to be broken and all that.
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GOAL! Brighton 0-1 Wolves (Jota, 28)
It had been coming. Diogo Jota plays a wonderful give-and-go with Jonny, which frees the forward to drive into the box. Jiménez turns provider, surging down the left and into a mammoth gap vacated by Alzate before playing a sliderule cross into the box. Jota makes no mistake, sweeping home from close range.
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26 min: Brighton plunge themselves into trouble – but get away with it! A poor pass by Dale Stephens encouraged Wolves to pour forward and Jota swivelled away from Webster before laying the ball on for Jiménez, but the striker could not divert it goalwards. Jiménez is hungry to add to his tally.
25 min: Brighton work a clever opening but the final pass for Pascal Groß is overcooked and the ball runs out for a Wolves goal-kick.
23 min: Raúl Jiménez exquisitely flicks the ball into the net – but it won’t count. The flag is up, with Diogo Jota straying a yard or so offside. Jota had skated beyond Adam Webster, getting goalside of the Brighton defender before drilling the ball across goal but Jon Moss had long blown his whistle by the time Jiménez applied the finishing touch in the box.
18 min: Adam Webster is adjudged to have upended Diogo Jota 25 yards or so from goal and Joao Moutinho swings in the resulting free-kick, which bounces up into Ryan’s hands. The foul stemmed from Jota surging into space vacated by Alzate, who is an attacking full-back in just about every sense.
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17 min: Adama Traoré is built like a gladiator. Brighton have kept him relatively quiet so far but it is surely only a matter of time before the winger puts on the afterburners up against unorthodox full-back Dan Burn.
13 min: Brilliant save by Mat Ryan! Raúl Jiménez plays a cute first-time ball towards the back post for Saïss, who gets up to head at goal. It is a decent effort – Brighton make it difficult for him to generate too much power – and Ryan gets down low to his right to palm it away. Wonderful thinking by Jiménez, who is surely one of the best No9s in the division.
10 min: Rúben Neves sends a ferocious effort inches wide! Almost another peach for Neves to add to the showreel. Alzate’s headed clearance is poor and it drops neatly for the onrushing Portuguese, who hammers a first-time strike at goal. His shot whistles just past Mat Ryan’s right post. Neves is a specialist in the spectacular and almost punished a sloppy header by Alzate.
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9 min: Wolves turnover possession on halfway through Moutinho, who releases Raúl Jiménez but Brighton crowd out the Wolves talisman. But Wolves will attempt to recycle the ball ...
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7 min: Potter is busy scribbling down a few notes but he will be reasonably happy with the start his side have made. Brighton are dominating possession and Wolves have not really had a sniff, aside from piling into a hole left by the marauding Steven Alzate. Nuno continues to survey the scene on the touchline.
5 min: A wardrobe malfunction of sorts for referee Jon Moss, whose cumbersome communication gadgets require a new set of triple As, or something like that. Moss points to his watch as the crowd jeer the brief delay. Lovely stuff.
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3 min: An encouraging start by Brighton, with Maupay getting a clear shot away from distance. Maupay tries to slide in Mooy but it is cut out and then the Frenchman decides to take aim from 20 yards. Patricio watches it all the way and comfortably collects in the Wolves goal. The visitors are under the cosh early on.
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2 min: Wolves put bodies on the line to deny Maupay! Alzate flies forward from right-back and tries to meet Leandro Trossard’s lofted ball. Alzate is frustrated with himself, which says everything. It was a wonderful chance, though Maupay almost fed off the scraps before Coady intervened. From the resulting corner, Dunk powers a header over.
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Peeeeeeeeeeep!
Wolves get things under way at Brighton.
There is a wonderful visual nod to the Rainbow Laces campaign at the Amex, where Brighton supporters hold aloft a series of multicoloured placards in the East Stand to make a eye-catching kaleidoscope of colour as the teams enter the pitch.
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The teams trudge out of the tunnel at the Amex ...
A very smiley Nuno Espírito Santo speaks. “Totally, totally focussed, 100%, we have to keep on going no matter what we did before,” he says, when asked about not getting carried away with Wolves’ unbeaten run. “It is tough, very demanding and challenge. Today we play against a very good team and we have to compete. The ideas of Graham [Potter] are totally different, compact, organised and good players. We have to be really switched on and play our game. We have to control, we have to manage.”
Aston Villa 1-4 Leicester City
Newcastle 2-1 Southampton
Norwich City 1-2 Sheffield United
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Only Liverpool are on a better unbeaten run than Wolves. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have not been toppled in any of their past 10 matches but they have some way to go until they match Liverpool’s 33-match Premier League record. The lightning Adama Traoré v 6ft6in Dan Burn is an intriguing match-up.
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Graham Potter speaks, and the Brighton head coach knows the size of the task at hand. “We have to start again,” says Potter, who confirms Connolly misses out with a dead leg. “We had a good evening but it doesn’t count for anything now and we are playing against a team in really good form that are really hard to beat. We have to go again and we will do our best. It is a different challenge, any team that has gone 10 games without defeat in the Premier League has not happened by accident, that’s for sure.”
Sunday’s Premier League results
Aston Villa 1-4 Leicester
Norwich 1-2 Sheffield United
Newcastle 2-1 Southampton
Over at Villa Park, Jamie Vardy’s running riot. Again:
Team news news: Brighton make one change from that victory over Arsenal on Thursday with Leandro Trossard, who laid on the winning goal for Neal Maupay, replacing Aaron Connolly, who failed to shake off a hamstring issue. In Dan Burn, Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster, they have three defenders around the size of Brighton seafront’s i360 tower. Nuno Espírito Santo’s Wolves, meanwhile, are unchanged. Oh, and in official news Jon Moss is at the Amex despite his framed match-worn referee shirt from the 2015 FA Cup final being stolen from his funky Leeds record shop, which goes by the name of The Vinyl Whistle. So many questions.
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The teams!
Brighton & Hove Albion (4-2-3-1): Ryan; Burn, Webster, Dunk, Alzate; Pröpper, D Stephens; Trossard, Mooy, Groß; Maupay.
Subs: Button, Montoya, Duffy, Bernardo, Bissouma, Jahanbakhsh, Murray
Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-3-3): Patricio; Dendoncker, Coady, Saïss; Doherty, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny; Traoré, Jiménez, Jota
Subs: Ruddy, Vallejo, Bennett, Kilman, Vinagre, Neto, Cutrone
Referee: Jon Moss
Preamble
Brighton are presumably still bobbing up and down after beating Arsenal in their own back yard in midweek but remain just three points above the relegation zone. Just four points separate ninth-placed Sheffield United and Southampton, who take on Newcastle this afternoon, in 18th. Graham Potter, for one, is not taking anything for granted and his players must share that mindset after an unforgivingly quick turnaround. “Anything is possible in this league, that’s the way you have to think or else it becomes boring,” Potter said. “We have to keep working towards what we’re trying to achieve and maintain the spirit around the group.”
Wolves are having a better season than many realise, with Nuno Espírito Santo’s side qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League without breaking sweat and on a 10-match unbeaten run in the top flight. Nuno gave his players a rare day off on Thursday as a reward for their efforts in what has already been a marathon season, with this their 29th match since July. And then they have another five matches before December is out. “I hope [the players] enjoyed their day off,” Espírito Santo said. “It was well deserved and they needed it. It was important they understand it’s a day to rest, recover, stay at home and be with family and join us to be ready for Sunday.” We’ll soon find out how ready they are.
Kick-off: 4.30pm (GMT)
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