Raúl Jiménez marked his return to Wolves with the stoppage-time equaliser that saved them from an embarrassing start to their return to the Championship. The Mexico striker, who scored against England during the World Cup, came off the bench to convert a penalty given for handball by Ryan Alebiosu that would have had VAR questioning whether the defender was in the area when Jackson Tchatchoua’s cross struck his arm. One minor consolation from Wolves’ relegation is that the video assistant referee is no longer their problem.
Jiménez, who had bought scarves for all supporters in the South Bank in gratitude for their welcome home, tucked away his first goal in this second spell for the club he graced during their recent heyday before leaving for Fulham. Raúl is a key player for us. He helped the team inside and outside the pitch but we have to go slowly with him because he is 35 years old and comes back from the World Cup.
We want him to stay good and scoring for us is good for him and for the team.” Goals from Sean McLoughlin and Andri Gudjohnsen allowed Blackburn to provide Wolves with a reality check after Marshall Munetsi had scored early. Confidence is a fragile commodity and, after their decision to replace Rob Edwards with a manager with no experience of English football, the Wolves board know that their supporters’ patience is thin. Leading Gil Vicente to sixth place in the Portuguese first division does not make Peixoto a guaranteed winner.
Conceding the equaliser, through Jiménez’s first goal for Wolves in 1,311 days, denied unfancied Blackburn a deserved victory after Wolves lost their shape. Tony Mowbray, their head coach, felt the penalty decision was harsh. I just felt like more and more decisions were starting to sway their way,” the former West Brom manager said.
A summer that started with such a surprising managerial departure was promising to end with renewed faith in the team’s direction of travel, until Peixoto’s admired high press came unstuck as his team started to “play with their hearts more than their heads”. The Blackburn defence had split generously to allow Munetsi a clean run through on to Fer López’s sumptuous pass. The left-footed finish from the Zimbabwean, himself coming back to Molineux after a loan at Paris FC, strengthened the feelgood factor.
Peixoto’s tactics do currently lead to gaps on transition. Blackburn, who have not done so much in the transfer market to suggest they should aim higher than last season’s 20th place, got behind Wolves on several occasions. It was no great surprise when, from Ryoya Morishita’s superb right-wing cross, McLoughlin headed beyond Dan Bentley to equalise.
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