Wolves fans at the Amex Stadium went wild on Saturday, after Matheus Cunha scored an equaliser at the death against Brighton.
Wolves looked to be heading for another defeat in the Premier League, having gone 2-0 down in the 85th minute.
After Danny Welbeck had opened the scoring, Evan Ferguson made it two and Wanderers appeared to be done and dusted.
But the players did not give up, and Rayan Ait-Nouri gave the visitors hope when he turned in from a corner.
Then, Matheus Cunha struck in the 93rd minute to hand Wolves an unlikely point – and one that could turn out to be huge.
Cunha has come in for lots of credit for bailing Wolves out, but it would not have been possible without Tommy Doyle.
Cunha told Tommy Doyle ‘it’s your goal, it’s not mine’
Wolves fans had their hearts in their mouths when Brighton won the ball back from Wolves and launched a four-on-one attack.
Only Tommy Doyle was back for Wolves and somehow, the midfielder managed to read the danger and intercept the ball, before playing it perfectly down the right side for Cunha.
Cunha did the rest, but Doyle’s exceptional focus just before the goal was so key.
Arguably, it was one of the assists of the season so far, and after the game, Cunha revealed what he actually said to Doyle after his fantastic intervention at the back.
He said (via Wolves official): “I said to him, ‘Tommy, thank you very much’, because I think the action when he defended is more important than him passing the ball to me, because it’s four against one and he waited and then had the time to make the best decision to pass the ball to me, and I scored this goal for everyone.
“I said to him, ‘It’s your goal, it’s not mine’.”
Doyle has surely given O’Neil a selection headache
What a moment it was for Doyle on Saturday, and between that and his overall performance, he has surely given Gary O’Neil a real selection headache for next weekend.
O’Neil recently said Doyle felt he should be starting every week for Wolves, and whenever he’s taken to the pitch this term he has done well.
| Tommy Doyle for Wolves |
| Appearances – 41 |
| Minutes played – 2130 |
| Goals – 2 |
| Assists – 1 |
In a way, Doyle is perhaps the most unfortunate player in Wolves’ squad. He is competing with three other brilliant midfielders in Mario Lemina, Andre and Joao Gomes, so it’s been difficult for him to get a run in the team.
Perhaps this game may prove to be the catalyst for him though now.
He was superb against Brighton, and Doyle genuinely does deserve a show of faith from the Wolves manager.