Jan Paul van Hecke Saves Point for Brighton & Hove Albion Following Bart Verbruggen's Own Goal Versus Wolves

Jørgen Strand Larsen, who saw a big-money transfer fall through recently, appeared angrily arguing with his team's coaching staff when the match ended. It happened following his late substitution, shortly after he struck the woodwork with Wolves ahead thanks to the Brighton goalkeeper's unfortunate deflection. Brighton pushed for a last-gasp leveler, that finally arrived through defender Van Hecke.

Wolves Frustrated Again by Last-Minute Strike

This marks the second successive match, Wolves' bid to kickstart their campaign underway was thwarted by a late equaliser. The Wolves manager had been dismissed just before the top flight's bottom side went ahead, after Marshall Munetsi's shot rebounded from the crossbar and in off the Brighton goalkeeper.

Brighton's side earned a draw for their second-half control, but Wolves, for the second game in a row following their tie at Spurs, looked as if they were going to hang on for a maiden league win of the season before conceding a late leveler.

Game Explodes with Incidents

Strand Larsen looked Wolves' most likely source for a decisive second goal, and the home team seemed less able to break forward with Jhon Arias spearheading the attack. The game exploded into life in the heart of the first half.

The Wolves boss was furious at the referee's decision not to give a free-kick when Gomes was challenged by Baleba in the middle in the opposition half. Then, after the referee booked Baleba for an altogether more obvious infraction on Bueno, the red card was shown to the Wolves manager for kicking a replacement ball off a cone at the referee's technical area. Although he promptly apologised, it was clearly a dangerous action. The fire had been ignited.

After a long set-piece into the visitors' area was nodded back into the danger area, Danny Welbeck only managed to head the ball away as far as Munetsi, to the right of the spot, who dispatched a veritable powerful of a strike toward goal. Even though Verbruggen managed to deflect the ball against the underside of the crossbar, it bounced back and across the line off the shot-stopper's glove.

A single goal almost turned into two, only for Verbruggen to very deliberately tip Ladislav Krejci's headed effort, from another long angled free-kick, over the bar. The visitors, with their deeply strong record at their ground – they had won their four matches here – and a positive start to the season to boot, counterattacked with occasional menace.

After the Break Drama

When Jackson Tchatatchoua underpowered a return pass, Gruda was within his rights to challenge Johnstone for the ball, though he did catch the home goalkeeper with his follow-through. After a niggly spell, the significance of the subsequent goal became increasingly obvious. It almost went Wolves' way, soon in the second half, only for Jhon Arias to sidefoot over the bar from close range after a superb counterattack led by Strand Larsen, after he enabled Hwang to invite the overlapping Bueno to cross low.

Brighton, somewhat slow in the opening 45, looked more potent for the introduction of Rutter and, from Yankuba Minteh's left-wing delivery, the substitute could barely have caught his shot any more perfectly.

Johnstone, though, justifying his retention in the starting lineup ahead of José Sá, leapt back to his right to deny him. Hürzeler had already asked Ayari to patrol the base of his midfield on his by himself, resulting in Brighton to more territorial control, when he brought on the striker Tzimas to partner Welbeck in the frontline, with Gómez just behind them.

Late Drama as Defender Strikes

The Seagulls have scored more goals against Wolves than against every other team in the Premier League. But Wolves were set to hold firm to what they had and so nearly sealing the match to bed when Strand Larsen shot against the foot of the upright. The Norwegian striker, still seeking peak condition after an Achilles injury, did not look impressed when he was withdrawn minutes later as Luis Miguel, Pereira's assistant, looked to shore up the victory. The move failed however as Brighton equalised with four minutes remaining.

Wolves believed the ball had already gone behind for a goal-kick when the defender made sure by nudging it on. From Minteh's near-post corner, Maxim De Cuyper crossed and, after Tzimas got a slight flick-on, Van Hecke thudded home only his second ever goal in seventy-seven league appearances for the club.