Wolves 3 – 2 Brentford
Wolves set up an FA Cup derby showdown with West Brom after a battling extra-time win over Brentford.
Matheus Cunha’s penalty sent Gary O’Neil’s side through to the fourth round as the hosts eventually sealed a 3-2 replay victory at Molineux.
Wolves hit back through Nelson Semedo and Nathan Fraser in normal time after Nathan Collins and Neal Maupay twice gave the visitors the lead.
But Cunha’s extra-time spot kick booked a Black Country derby at The Hawthorns, the first in three years, on January 28.
Brentford could not respond to the extra-time setback
The Bees will be left with a blank weekend but will at least have Ivan Toney available having missed him during a barren winter, during which they have won once since the start of November.
The striker completes his eight-month ban for betting breaches on Wednesday.
The 1-1 draw in the initial tie ended a five-game losing streak for the Bees and confidence still looked low until they scored against the run of play after 13 minutes.
Wolves had been in the ascendancy but were caught when Kristoffer Ajer wriggled goal-side of Matt Doherty.
Nathan Collins scored against his former club to get the Bees going
His fierce effort was parried by Jose Sa but, when the ball was played back in, Maupay’s shot was blocked and Collins bundled the ball in from six yards.
It was part redemption for Collins who endured a nightmare against his former club in the Premier League last month, gifting them three goals in a 4-1 defeat.
It failed to deflate Wolves, though, and they went close to a leveller after half an hour.
Cunha cross found the unmarked Semedo and, with Thomas Strakosha stranded, the defender’s shot was blocked by Brentford’s massed ranks on the line.
The ball ran for Pablo Sarabia but he could only put his effort into the side netting.
Nelson Semedo made it 1-1 at Molineux
Yet the hosts did not have to wait long for a leveller six minutes later when Semedo reached Cunha’s flighted cross, his header was parried by Strakosha but he had the easiest of tasks of tapping in the rebound.
It should have given Wolves the extra momentum but they were behind again six minutes after the break.
Neal Maupay’s fourth goal since re-joining Brentford in September put them 2-1 in front
Keane Lewis-Potter’s cross caused problems on the edge of the box and when the ball ran to Maupay he smashed in high from eight yards. The striker was initially ruled offside but, after a two-minute VAR check, the goal was given.
Maupay has scored just four goals this season – and only five since February 2022 – with two coming against Wolves after his strike in the original game.
Brentford were dreaming of the fourth round, which they had only gone beyond once since 2006, and Mikkel Damsgaard curled a free kick at Sa.
But the tie continued to twist and Wolves levelled again with 18 minutes left when substitute Fraser, on for just three minutes, drilled into the corner.
Nathan Fraser hit Wolves’ second equaliser
A minute later the forward should have put the hosts ahead only for Strakosha to pull off a wonderful close-range stop.
From then extra-time loomed and Sa turned Shandon Baptiste’s effort onto the post soon after the restart.
But Wolves snatched a deserved win in stoppage time of the first period when Cunha converted from the spot after Pedro Neto had been tripped.
O’Neil focusing on Brighton before WBA match
Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil:
“As soon as we walked off I was thinking about Brighton [in the Premier League]. I understand fans will be excited, it will be a big atmosphere, it hasn’t been played with fans for a while.
“I can’t wait to lead the team down there and see if we can progress again. There’s a Premier League game coming up and I have a very small tired group to do some work with before we go to Brighton.
“I have mixed feelings about the performance but I’m delighted with the win. The lads have worked unbelievably hard over the two ties. We’ve talked about taking the FA Cup seriously, we went down to 10 men at Brentford and tonight got a bit awkward for us.
“The players deserve credit for how they have approached the whole tie. We gave Brentford a bit of a lift by giving them two crazy goals.”
Frank questions decision to award late penalty
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank:
“Tonight we did a lot of things right. The first half was a bit direct from our side. I was very pleased with the second half and in extra-time. In general we put a lot of effort into the game and we could have won.
“The game was decided by a penalty which, in my opinion, is not there. Ben [Mee] clearly hit the ball into Neto’s feet. It’s difficult to make a call but unfortunately I can’t alter that.
“It’s massive [to have Ivan Toney back], no doubt. It’s like signing a Premier League striker who can score 20 goals because he’s proved it.
“Every team would be happy to sign a quality player like him. Ivan is a top player but he’s also very good at making the whole team better.”
What’s next?
Saturday 20th January 5:00pm
Kick off 5:30pm
Wolves return to Premier League action on Monday night as they visit Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium; kick-off 7.45pm.
Brentford host Nottingham Forest at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday back in the Premier League; kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports.
