Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Bristol City. Sky Bet Championship.
MolineuxAttendance23,045.
Wednesday 13 September 2017 12:19, UK
Danny Batth rescued a point for Wolves as they were held to a thrilling 3-3 draw by Bristol City.
The defender scored with five minutes left to deny the Robins a first win at Molineux since 1931 after Bobby Reid's late goal put them on the brink. In an exhilarating game, Leo Bonatini and Diogo Jota twice put Wolves ahead but they were pegged back by Aden Flint and Famara Diedhiou's penalty.
The hosts tried to go for the kill early and defender Matt Doherty had the ball in the net after neat build-up but was correctly ruled offside. The Robins struggled to keep possession with Wolves first to everything and it was no surprise when they took the lead after 28 minutes through Bonatini.
City were slow to react in the area and when Alfred N'Diaye drilled the ball across goal, Ruben Vinagre's drive was blocked to allow Bonatini to stab in his third of the season.
But with a deserved lead, Wolves retreated to allow the visitors back into the game three minutes before the break. They had failed to test John Ruddy but scrambled an equaliser when Wolves failed to clear a corner and Flint's shot deflected in. It handed Bristol City a way back but they had to recover again during a frantic opening to the second half.
Parity was initially short-lived after the break as Jota bundled in on 54 minutes when Nathan Baker had cleared Ivan Cavaleiro's goalbound effort for a corner. But the Robins levelled just four minutes later when Diedhiou scored from the spot after Vinagre had handled in the area.
Wolves wanted their own penalty soon after when Batth and Bailey Wright collided - sparking a scuffle between the benches - but nothing was given.
The hosts continued to press and Jota smashed a half volley against the bar but Wolves were stunned when Reid stabbed in with eight minutes left to give the Robins the lead. But Batth powered in a header from a corner to clinch a point five minutes from time.
Nuno: "The referee just asked for us to relax. Me and Lee (Johnson, Bristol City manager), we know each other from a long way ago. It was about the staff, they were arguing. It's football. It's normal.
"I don't want to judge the work of the referee - I know it's a tough job - but Bristol started very aggressively and there should be a little bit more protection to our players."
First-team coach Jamie McAllister: "I felt aggrieved when Bailey went up to win a header and they're all shouting for a penalty. You can see on the video that Bailey won the header, we were concerned about our player who was down injured and they're looking for a penalty which was poor.
"Then at the end, we get the ball, their player's down and they don't give it us back which I think is shocking, bad sportsmanship. Was I pushed (when the benches squared up)? Yes, I kept calm and pushed his arm away. He was in my face, there was no punch, it never happened. The ref just came over to calm things down."
