Doyle rescues FA Cup replay for 10-man Wolves against Brentford
Wolves looked like they might be in the mood to repeat their 4-1 thrashing of Brentford just 10 days prior, as it only took only seven minutes for Matheus Cunha to race around Thomas Strakosha, but the recovering Mathias Jørgensen was on hand to clear the danger at the vital moment.
Gary O’Neil’s men were in control, but that evaporated when they were setback by an early dismissal as João Gomes was shown a straight red card for a lunging tackle on Christian Nørgaard after just 10 minutes.
Instinctively, Wolves sat back to contain the inevitable Brentford pressure, yet the hosts still generated chances. Nathan Collins nearly put the Bees ahead with a piledriver from 20 yards that grazed the crossbar, while Ethan Pinnock’s improvised volley from close range was held by José Sá.
Just as it seemed like Thomas Frank’s side would struggle to find a way through the visitors’ watertight backline, Wolves failed to deal with Mathias Jensen’s free-kick and Neal Maupay snapped up the chance to fire a loose ball into the top corner for his third career goal against the Midlands outfit.
Brentford continued to apply the pressure in hope of notching a decisive second and ending their five-match losing streak.
But the West Londoners were stunned midway through the second half when Doyle received Pedro Neto’s pass on the edge of the area and unleashed a left-footed thunderbolt into the top corner to open his Wolves account in emphatic fashion.
Although Brentford showed plenty of determination to restore their lead late on, with Shandon Baptiste poking wide with their best opportunity, the hosts lacked a moment of quality in the final third and defensive issues proved costly again as the Bees failed to keep a clean sheet for a 10th consecutive match in all competitions.
In contrast, it was a moment of inspiration from Doyle that earned Wolves an FA Cup replay and extended their unbeaten run to four matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Tommy Doyle (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
