Ferguson back among goals for Brighton but Ogbene leaves Ipswich defeat on stretcher

Brighton 2-2 Wolves

EVAN FERGUSON FOUND the net but Wolves snatched only their second point of the Premier League season after Matheus Cunha’s stoppage-time effort rescued a dramatic 2-2 draw at Brighton.

Albion were on course to climb to fourth in the table following goals from Danny Welbeck and Republic of Ireland striker Ferguson.

But Rayan Ait-Nouri set up a nervy finish by halving the deficit in the 88th minute before Cunha fired home via a deflection in the third minute of stoppage time to move Wanderers off the bottom of the table.

Brighton only had themselves to blame for the late collapse as they squandered a four-on-one situation, prior to being punished by the leveller on the counter-attack.

Wolves manager Gary O’Neil did little to hide his sense of injustice following last weekend’s controversial last-gasp 2-1 loss to Manchester City and could hardly contain his delight at full-time.

Wolves leapfrog Southampton in the relegation zone, while Albion remain fifth after being denied a third consecutive top-flight win.

Brighton suffered a blow before kick-off when captain Lewis Dunk, who was set to make his 250th Premier League appearance, injured his calf in the warm-up and was replaced in the starting XI by Igor Julio.

Albion’s rejigged backline was carved open inside nine minutes as Wolves passed up a golden opportunity.

Cunha easily escaped Joel Veltman down the left but, after pulling the ball back, the unmarked Tommy Doyle, who scored on this ground last month in a 3-2 Carabao Cup loss, wastefully side-footed over.

Wolves were on the back foot for large parts of the first half and required a fine save from goalkeeper Jose Sa to deny a long-range drive from impressive Seagulls midfielder Carlos Baleba.

The lowly visitors looked to have done enough to go into the break level before gifting Brighton a 45th-minute opener.

After Sa’s woeful kick fell at the feet of Ferdi Kadioglu, Georginio Rutter slipped in stand-in skipper Welbeck, who calmly dispatched a first-time finish into the bottom left corner.

O’Neil responded with a double substitution as skipper Mario Lemina and Toti Gomes were replaced by Pablo Sarabia and Carlos Forbs for the second period.

Sarabia gave Wanderers greater attacking impetus, albeit clear chances for a leveller were initially limited.

Cunha flashed a low effort across goal after being fed by the Spanish substitute before a close-range header from Jorgen Strand Larsen was kept out by Seagulls keeper Bart Verbruggen.

Brighton appeared content to settle for a narrow success before seemingly putting the result beyond doubt five minutes from time.

Tariq Lamptey led the counter-attack down the right, squaring to fellow substitute Ferguson who swivelled and fired a fantastic finish into the bottom-left corner.

Any prospect of Albion fans avoiding a nervy finish were quickly extinguished as Ait-Nouri powered home after the ball bounced loose following a corner.

Advertisement

The away end were celebrating again minutes later when Brighton paid a heavy price for needlessly pouring players forward.

Cunha did the damage, driving a low effort which flicked off Jan Paul van Hecke and flew into the net via the underside of the crossbar.

Having sensationally halted a run of five successive defeats, Wolves face crucial home clashes against fellow strugglers Crystal Palace and Southampton in the next two weeks.

Brentford 4-3 Ipswich

Bryan Mbeumo scored an injury-time winner in a seven-goal thriller as Brentford claimed a 4-3 victory over 10-man Ipswich at the Gtech Community Stadium.

George Hirst scored and set up Republic of Ireland international Sammie Szmodics for another to put Kieran McKenna’s men in control in west London as they hunted their first win of the season.

Then, after Yoane Wissa scored, forced an equaliser own goal from Harry Clarke and Mbeumo netted a penalty to put Brentford 3-2 up, Liam Delap came on and grabbed an 86th-minute leveller for the visitors.

But Mbeumo showed his pedigree in second-half added-time as his cross was misjudged by goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, giving Brentford all the points.

While Szmodics’ goal was doubtless a positive from an Irish perspective, Heimir Halgrímsson may have been dealt a blow ahead of his next squad announcement on 7 November in the shape of an injury to Chiedozie Ogbene.

The Ireland winger went down in pain with a non-contact injury and departed the game on a stretcher during the first half. (There was a separate Irish concern for Preston’s Robbie Brady, meanwhile, who went off injured after half an hour of North End’s 3-3 Championship draw at Plymouth Argyle).

A cagey opening needed a spark to light up the match and Kalvin Phillips did just that as he started the move to help Ipswich to the opening goal.

The Manchester City loanee expertly received the ball on the half-turn and punched a pass through to Hirst before his flick-on set up Szmodics nicely for a first-time finish into the bottom right-hand corner with 28 minutes gone.

The Tractor Boys had taken some time to get going but they were now at full throttle as they went and snatched a second in the 31st minute. A counter-attack saw Conor Chaplin slip in Hirst for a one-on-one and the striker, who replaced the in-form Delap in the starting XI, used a deft chip to lift the ball over Mark Flekken.

Brentford needed to offer a response and they did just that as they took their first chance of note to get back into the match. Keane Lewis-Potter broke away down the left and combined with Vitaly Janelt before his pulled pass into the six-yard box met the well-positioned Wissa for an easy tap in (44).

But Wissa was not done there as he continued to threaten in behind to help Brentford draw level before the break. Denmark international Mikkel Damsgaard produced a through-ball which split the Ipswich defence and, after Wissa took a shot, Clarke’s slide diverted the ball in for an own goal.

Clarke’s match took a further turn for the worse when he was caught in a foot race with Lewis-Potter and conceded a penalty six minutes after the break. Clarke was desperate to win the battle but threw his arms all over the attacker and brought him to the ground inside the area.

Brentford’s main man Mbeumo stepped up and showed Ivan Toney-like composure with a slow run up before blasting into the roof of the net.

A further foul on Lewis-Potter earned Clarke a second yellow card but, despite having 10 men, Ipswich took their next chance through substitute Delap who scored his fifth of the season with four minutes left.

The forward instinctively stormed into the box once Leif Davis received the ball on the left and he managed to poke in the full-back’s cross to level proceedings.

But Mbeumo, who had been the best player on the pitch, showed his quality to steal the win with 96 minutes on the clock as his curled cross caught Muric flat-footed as Brentford took all the points, but only after a final scare when Delap hit a post.

Aston Villa 1-1 Bournemouth

Evanilson’s late header spoiled Aston Villa boss Unai Emery’s two-year anniversary as Bournemouth snatched a 1-1 draw deep into stoppage time.

Since Emery’s appointment in October 2022, Villa have gone from relegation candidates to top of the Champions League table and were denied the chance to move up to third in the Premier League following a last-gasp equaliser.

Fresh off the back of their victory over Arsenal last week, Bournemouth were aiming to capitalise on Villa’s return to reality from their European highs in midweek and stand-in goalkeeper Mark Travers frustrated them for large parts, making seven saves.

Villa thought they had the reward for a dominant first 45 but John McGinn’s goal was ruled out by VAR and they were made to wait for the opener which eventually came when substitute Ross Barkley stepped off the bench for his first goal of the season.

A late free-kick gave Bournemouth the final chance which Evanilson gladly glanced home with the last touch of the game to steal a point.

Bournemouth made four changes after handing Arsenal a first defeat of the season while Ezri Konsa and McGinn returned the league fold to replace Diego Carlos and Leon Bailey from last week’s win over Fulham.

Travers replaced the injured Kepa Arrizabalaga and he was called into action when he palmed Youri Tielemans’ effort at the front post behind for a corner.

Aston Villa have built a reputation as one of the most dangerous sides in the league from set pieces and almost cashed in on another – Lucas Digne’s lovely floated cross found Amadou Onana who was kept out by Travers again.

The hosts were denied an opener just before the half-hour mark.

Morgan Rogers’ overhit cross was collected by Ollie Watkins on the byline and he laid it off for McGinn, who curled home but VAR intervened and adjudged the ball to have marginally gone out of play.

Bournemouth were on the back foot for large spells but began to fire warning shots of their own – Justin Kluivert’s rifled effort from range needed to be saved by Emi Martinez.

Travers was busy between the sticks again and denied Villa for a fourth time in the half, this time diving left to stop Konsa’s powerful strike.

Villa turned up the heat in the second period and were twice denied again by the inspired Travers, who was on hand to keep out Pau Torres’ long-range effort and Watkins’ header in the space of a minute.

Super sub Jhon Duran thought he had worked his magic again but fizzed one the wrong side of the post, which many Villa fans thought was in.

A nervous Villa Park erupted in the 76th minute.

Andoni Iraola’s side finally caved to the pressure when Ian Maatsen’s delivery was nodded down by Bailey into the path of Barkley who swept home.

The Cherries were incensed when claims for a penalty were waved away by both referee Chris Kavanagh and VAR after Bailey appeared to handle the ball inside the area.

But Bournemouth were given the final opportunity for a late upset after goalscorer Barkley brought down Marcus Tavernier outside the box.

Tavernier dusted himself down and swung a ball onto the head of Evanilson to silence Villa Park.