Wolves’ name is in the hat for the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup after Tommy Doyle secured 10-man Old Gold a replay on Friday night and Matchday Live Extra’s Andy Thompson watched all the action at Brentford.
Staying in the FA Cup
Wolves felt hard done by following Joao Gomes’ ninth-minute red card and fell behind to Neal Maupay’s opener but showed character to earn a replay through Doyle’s stunning strike.
Thompson said: “You always fear the worst when you go down to ten men, so early on as well, but this team never gives up. It shows the character. They took the game to Brentford, I know they had a lot of possession, and they’re going to with an extra man, but we showed fight and what an equaliser from Tommy Doyle, who I thought had another good game. I thought a lot of players had a good game and the back line defended very well.
“Doyle hit it like a bullet, the goalkeeper isn’t stopping that, he hit it so sweet. It’s a great feeling, especially down towards the Wolves end. You’re just running and looking for the fans, but it’s a great feeling. He went to hit it with his right but pulled it on to his left, and then pulled the trigger straight into the top corner. The goalkeeper was never stopping it.”
The scenes after @Tommy_Doyle8's goal on Friday 😍 pic.twitter.com/zC4jLivPWA
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 7, 2024
Controversial decisions
Gomes was dismissed for catching his man on the ankle, but Wolves felt aggrieved when Mikkel Damsgaard got away with a similar challenge on Doyle, which Thompson echoed.
He said: “I know we don’t want to keep going on about them, because I think Wolves played really well, but it’s about consistency. Decisions have to be more consistent, sending somebody off, for going over the top on someone’s ankle, and he didn’t mean it, then a bit later when someone goes over the top and it’s clearer on Doyle, it’s the exact same and the referee does nothing. There’s no malice in there. He’s stretching for the ball and has gone over the top.
“I don’t see the difference. If anything, the one on Doyle is higher on him, because he’s gone over the top of the ball to get to Doyle’s ankle. The sending off, OK he’s caught him on the ankle, but my point is if you’re doing one, how can you not to do the other? The word we always talk about is consistency. I know he hasn’t done many Premier League games, but we’re talking about Premier League referees doing exactly the same, where there’s no consistency in their decisions. Once he gives one, he’s got to give the other one.”
A rock-solid defence
After the break, Wolves kept Brentford at bay by being organised, resolute and hard-working, despite the absence of Craig Dawson, which shows the strength in depth Gary O’Neil has at his disposal.
He said: “I thought he [Santi Bueno] had a really good game. In the league game, I thought first half he struggled, but the second half he defended really well. Throughout Friday, I thought he showed good defending, he headed, he read the ball. He probably got caught for Brentford’s goal in the league game, ball watching a little bit, but blocks, reading of the game, I thought he did well alongside Toti and Kilman, also supported by the two full-backs, Doherty and Semedo. Semedo had the young lad in his pocket, he struggled to get past him. He marshalled him well and Doherty is consistent on the left-hand side, he offers you something else in the air. The goalkeeper, when he needed to come for it or make saves, did really well. As a whole, I thought the team did really well.”
The squad showing its strength
Pedro Neto made an impact of the bench, as he stepped up his recovery from injury, and that helped Wolves up the intensity, before the winger provided the assist for Doyle’s equaliser.
He said: “Sarabia’s played really well and he’s good on the ball, but by bring on Neto, it gives you more legs and somebody who will drive you up the pitch. When they came out for the second half, Gary O’Neil had had a talk with them and told them he needed them to be more advanced up the pitch, to put pressure on them and take the game to them a little bit, and they did exactly that second half. They played the three against them and they looked nervous, the Brentford lads. The three lads up against them played really well. We got the ball to them, I thought we caused them problems, and got the corner, and it’s a wonder strike from Doyle. If you’ve got confidence, even when you’ve got ten men, you can take the game to teams. Everybody thought the game was over with the red card on nine minutes, but we showed character, fight and a willingness to take the game.”
The fans getting behind the team
The away end on Friday night were behind the team from the off and Thompson believes it’s because they have a team they enjoy watching.
He said: “They’ve got a team to cheer for. They’ve got a team which will go out there and give their all, but also, they’re exciting to watch. You’ve seen many teams when they lose a player so early just fold. They didn’t, they’ve got that belief, that character, and that come from the manager. It just shows you what can do, to score a goal like that and play the way they did was brilliant to watch. I know they had to defend for long periods of time, but taking the game to the home side was the thing. It unsettled them, it made them nervous. He’ll be sound proud of them, for what they’ve done.”
