Brentford surrendered a 2-0 lead and were held to a 2-2 draw by Wolves, missing a chance to narrow the gap to Chelsea.
Michael Kayode gave the Bees the lead with a powerful header after Brentford started brightly. Igor Thiago then made it 2-0, finishing into an empty net following slick play from Dango Ouattara — Thiago had just earned his first Brazil call-up.
Wolves pulled one back just before half-time through Adam Armstrong amid controversy. Seconds earlier, Ladislav Krejci had passed back to goalkeeper José Sá, who gathered and played on; Ouattara appeared to contest the pass and may have clipped the ball. PGMOL said it could not intervene because the incident was not part of the same attacking phase, so the goal stood.
That strike swung momentum Wolves’ way. Armstrong had already struck the post, and early in the second half substitute Tolu Arokodare completed the comeback with a header just four minutes after coming on; he almost added a second when his header hit the bar shortly after.
Reiss Nelson missed a late chance to win it for Brentford. The draw leaves Brentford three points behind Chelsea (rather than one) and keeps Wolves bottom, though they are now three points behind 19th-placed Burnley.
Team news
– Brentford made four changes from their previous cup side, with Sepp van den Berg and Mathias Jensen returning.
– Wolves brought José Sá, Ladislav Krejci, André and Adam Armstrong back into the starting XI after they had missed the Liverpool game.
Reactions
– Keith Andrews: ‘I think the fact that I’ve been in three interviews now and I’ve been asking everyone about it would suggest that it probably was. We can’t really affect that, and we can affect a lot of other things tonight that we didn’t. I don’t really want to go down the route of polluting my thoughts with it. I saw it clearly.’
– Thierry Henry (on Match of the Day): ‘A bit of controversy? I can tell they don’t deem it a deliberate back pass, because they gave the goal. There is a little touch from Ouattara, but what else is he trying to do there? Of course it’s a back pass.’
– Rob Edwards: ‘The goal did change our half-time plan a little bit. We were playing really well, they went 2-0 up but I felt like it was our fault. That goal allowed us to keep the same shape and the same plan, there was just a little adjustment personnel-wise. We were right in the game and it proved to be the right thing at half-time, the second-half performance was excellent.’
Selected player ratings
– Brentford: Kelleher 5; Kayode 7; Thiago 7; Ouattara 6; Schade 4. Subs: Yarmoliuk 5; Ajer 6; Nelson 5.
– Wolves: Sá 6; Tchatchoua 7; André 7; J. Gomes 8; Armstrong 8. Subs: A. Gomes 6; Tolu Arokodare 7.
Player of the Match: Adam Armstrong.