Wolves were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at Luton in an action packed contest. They recovered from Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s 39th -minute red card to take the lead through Lutonon 50 minutes but were pegged back by Carlton Morris’s 65th-minute penalty after Joao Gomes was controversially penalised for handball. Our Wolves reporter Mike Baggaley picks his talking points…
Brilliant Pedro Neto: Wolves didn’t deserve to win this game but they threatened to anyway thanks to the brilliance of Pedro Neto. Okay, there was more to it than that – their resilience with ten men also played a part, as did Joao Gomes’ excellent through ball to find the Portuguese winger.
However, what followed was exceptional as Neto showed the pace and determination to get past Tom Lockyer, then the composure to cut into the area and fire the ball past keeper Thomas Kaminski to give his side the lead five minutes into the second half. Neto went into this game having assisted each of Wolves last four Premier League goals. This time he took matters into his own hands.
- Read More: Gary O’Neil blasts ‘terrible’ decision as Wolves force Luton draw
- Read More: Bellegarde apology made as O’Neil explains policy after Wolves red card
Can we get a decision please? Wolves aren’t asking for any favours but should at least expect they don’t get decisions like Luton’s penalty given against them. The ball clearly deflected off Joao Gomes’ leg before striking the unfortunate midfielder’s outstretched arm. VAR should have corrected the decision but failed to do so, leaving Wolves on the wrong end of a controversy for the second time already this season, having been denied a penalty for Andre Onana’s foul at Old Trafford in the opening game.
Subs make an impact: Gary O’Neil’s changes at home to Liverpool couldn’t stop the opposition taking over the game but it was a different story here. Toti, on the left of the back three, and Matt Doherty, at left wing back both helped Wolves look more solid against a Luton side who were still on top but didn’t create the chances they would have hoped against ten men.
Toti and Doherty are likely to start on Tuesday when Wolves are at Ipswich in the Carabao Cup third round. Their performances off the bench here might have also nudged them closer to selection in O’Neil’s league side.
“We knew today would be a test of mentality and being ready to go. Luton were aggressive, went man for man. We lost every duel, every time it went into our forward players it bounced off them. Every time it went into theirs, it stuck.
“When it dropped into midfield, they were faster to it. So, extremely disappointed with the first 20 or 25 minutes, so much so that we had to change shape to try to get a foothold. I thought we did that, we saw off that terrible spell and managed to make the game slightly more even and then suffered a crazy moment from Jean.
“I think from that moment it is going to be a tough hour or so. I asked a big question of the players at half time and they managed to produce in the second half, to be fair to them, to come from the first 20 minutes and then lose a man. Then to be able to respond the way they did, and fight the way they did until the very end, and deserve to win the game, was a big effort from them.”
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