Brighton and Hove Albion 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2
Brighton and Hove Albion beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 in the their third round Carabao Cup clash at the Amex Stadium in Falmer this evening (Wednesday 18 September).
Carlos Baleba and Simon Adingra scored first-half goals, with Goncalo Guedes pulling one back just before the break.
The scoreline looked settled until a slurry of late substitutions mixed things up and Ferdi Kadioglu put Brighton 3-1 up with five minutes left on the clock.
Thomas Doyle kept the contest alive, pulling one back for the visitors in the first minute of added time, but it was too little too late to salvage anything for Gary O’Neill’s Premier League strugglers.
Albion must wait until next Wednesday (25 September) to find out who they face in the fourth round of the League Cup with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.
Tonight, the opening goal of the match came just before the quarter hour, as Baleba unleashed a thundering shot from distance, leaving Jose Sa with no chance.
And just after the half hour, Adam Webster sent in a cracking cross which Adingra controlled with his first touch on the edge of the area before producing a low inch-perfect finish.
With the interval looming, Matt Doherty laid on Guedes who sent the ball flying past keeper Jason Steele and into the top right corner of the net to make the score 2-1 at half-time.
Wolves came out hungry but the hosts soaked up the pressure and Yankuba Minteh, Simon Adingra and Danny Welbeck, on as a substitute, all had chances.
After 82 minutes, Kadioglu came off the bench for Minteh and three minutes later he was in the right place in the box to rifle home a rebound and put Brighton 3-1 in front.
The visitors didn’t give up and in the first minute of added time Jorgen Strand Larsen passed to Thomas Doyle who took his chance from some way out and hit home.
The referee John Brooks dished out seven yellow cards. Five were shown to Albion players – Pervis Estupinan, Jack Hinshelwood, Evan Fergson, Jakub Moder and Adam Webster along with Wolves players Pablo Sarabia and Doyle.
Both sides were vastly changed from their previous Premier League fixtures and Brighton looked a little less confident than usual but they held out for a win that, all in all, was well deserved.
