When Brighton substitute Evan Ferguson scored to earn his side a 2-0 lead in the 85th minute on Saturday, Wolves boss Gary O’Neil told himself there would be “tough questions” coming after the game.
Wolves were staring at a sixth successive league defeat and set for another week propping up the Premier League table.
Then, in a finish few saw coming at Amex Stadium, Wolves somehow managed to snatch a point from the jaws of defeat.
Rayan Ait-Nouri’s 88th-minute finish looked nothing more than a consolation, especially when Brighton were well placed to make it 3-1 in a four-on-one situation.
But a misplaced pass saw Tommy Doyle sprint down the other end and provide the pass for Matheus Cunha to make it 2-2 in the third minute of stoppage time and send the travelling Wolves fans wild with delight.
It was a crazy finish to a match that a few minutes earlier had looked like bringing a routine home win.
“At 2-0 down at 85 minutes, I’m thinking, ‘some tough questions coming again here’,” said O’Neil afterwards.
Now the big question is this: will the comeback prove a turning point for Wolves’ season?
‘We’ll definitely be fine’
What does that point do for Wolves?
For starters they are off the bottom of the table having leapfrogged Southampton.
But O’Neil remains a manager under pressure.
He has overseen just one win in the past 19 Premier League games, which on the face of it is sackable form.
O’Neil took charge in August 2023 and led Wolves to eye-catching wins over Manchester City as well as a Premier League double over Tottenham on their way to a 14th-placed finish in his first season in charge.
The former Bournemouth boss believes his side can “definitely” avoid relegation this time around if they show the fight they have displayed in the last two games.
Wolves produced a gritty performance against defending champions Manchester City last week before losing to a late goal, before Saturday’s comeback in Sussex against showed spirit in the ranks.
“My main thing around today is how deep they’ve had to dig to achieve something,” O’Neil said of his players.
“Not just because we’re 2-0 down, but we’re 2-0 down and we’ve not won a game yet and they’ve still managed to find a way.
“We’ll definitely be fine this season and that only reaffirms my thoughts.”
‘They’re not must-wins’
Wolves have two points from a possible 27 but have played all the top-seven teams in the table.
They now have a run of fixtures where they will be looking to build momentum and climb out of the bottom three.
Fellow strugglers Crystal Palace visit Molineux next Saturday (17:30 GMT) before Wolves host bottom club Southampton the following week.
O’Neil will be targeting back-to-back wins in those two games, although he claimed after the Brighton draw that they were not “must-win” games.
“I know there’ll be a lot made of the next games,” added the Wolves boss.
“They’re not ‘must-wins’. Crystal Palace are good, they spent £30m on a striker [Eddie Nketiah] from Arsenal; Eze’s pretty good. We need to just be ready in every game.
“We treated today as a game we wanted to win. Palace will be the same. Southampton will be the same. Southampton will be tough when they come – they keep the ball forever, have a real set way of playing.
“So, there will be challenges in every game because that’s the level of the Premier League. But we just keep going. The lads will never stop.
“Coming back late gives everyone a lift. It’s only what we deserved.
“But once you score, this group can be tough to stop when they get some positive momentum and energy.
“It ended up a little bit crazy at the end but I’m delighted for the boys. To still be able to keep fighting speaks a lot.”