Wolves staged a dramatic Carabao Cup comeback, with two goals in three minutes from Jorgen Strand Larsen securing a thrilling 3-2 victory over West Ham at Molineux.
The Norwegian striker, a reported transfer target for Newcastle, stepped off the bench to deliver a decisive double, turning the tie on its head just eight and six minutes from full-time.
Wolves had initially led at half-time, Rodrigo Gomes squeezing in a rebound after Hwang Hee-chan’s 43rd-minute penalty struck the inside of a post. However, West Ham responded after the break. Tomas Soucek powered home a header from a Kyle Walker-Peters delivery five minutes into the second half, before Lucas Paqueta nodded in Jarrod Bowen’s cross from the right in the 63rd minute, putting the Hammers ahead.
The Wolves boss made eight changes to the side ahead of the game but Vitor Pereira chose to introduce key players with 17 minutes remaining, adding impetus to his side’s building pressure. Strand Larsen emerged as the hero, first guiding the ball into the roof of the net in the 82nd minute after Andre’s powerful low shot was blocked by Alphonse Areola. The turnaround was completed moments later; a one-two between Jhon Arias and Strand Larsen saw Areola block Arias’s shot, only for Jackson Tchatchoua to quickly return the rebound from the right, allowing Strand Larsen to power home through a crowded box.
It was a tame start between two out-of-form sides and it took 25 minutes for the first meaningful effort to arrive, Bowen taking a lifted ball with his back to goal and holding off Santiago Bueno to lay off for Soucek, whose hard low shot was repelled by Johnstone.
Paqueta then dinked through Bowen on the spin but his shot under pressure from the right of the box was dealt with comfortably enough by Johnstone at the near post.
The Wolves breakthrough arrived after Arias rolled into Jean-Ricner Bellegarde who was tripped by the late-arriving Guido Rodriguez in the left of the box with Gomes alive to the ricochet after the spot-kick hit the frame of the goal.
West Ham had a decent chance to level as the clock hit 45, James Ward-Prowse swinging in from the right but Paqueta’s glanced header on the move flew marginally past the far post.
The Hammers did restore parity into the second half, Walker-Peters bending in for the perfectly-placed Soucek.
Wolves pressed but failed to convince before Bowen found a piece of brilliance, flashing in a fierce inswinger from the right touchline which Paqueta buried but Wolves refused to lie down with pace down the sides eventually helping to overwhelm the visitors.
