Raúl Jiménez Scores Late Penalty to Secure Draw for Wolves Against Blackburn

Raúl Jiménez emerged as the hero for Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring a late penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw against Blackburn Rovers in the Championship season opener at Molineux. The Mexican striker’s goal, converted in the third minute of stoppage time, followed a handball by Ryan Alebiosu from a Jackson Tchatchoua cross.

Before Jiménez’s equalizer, it appeared that Blackburn would take all three points after Sean McLoughlin had leveled the match in the 28th minute, equalizing Marshall Munetsi’s 18th-minute opener. Andri Gudjohnsen then put Rovers ahead early in the second half with a strike in the 48th minute.

This match marked Jiménez’s first league appearance for Wolves in three years, following his move on a free transfer from Fulham. Alongside him was Wolves’ new head coach Cesar Peixoto, who faced a challenging debut in English football as his team trailed for much of the second half.

Blackburn had initially threatened when Alebiosu’s deep cross found Oladapo Afolayan, whose looped header narrowly missed the target. Alebiosu was involved again, assisting Ryoya Morishita, whose shot was saved easily by Dan Bentley.

The hosts claimed the lead when Kieran Trippier set up Fernando López, who delivered a perfect pass for Munetsi. He calmly finished under the advancing goalkeeper Balazs Hoth, marking the first league goal of the season for Wolves.

However, McLoughlin equalized shortly thereafter, meeting Morishita’s cross with a well-placed header. Hoth briefly caused panic in his defense when he mispunched a corner, but managed to recover the situation.

Blackburn built momentum after halftime, with Gudjohnsen capitalizing on a cross from Afolayan to score and temporarily put the visitors ahead. Afolayan remained a threat, coming close on several occasions while Wolves struggled to regain control of the match.

Both teams made substitutions in an effort to boost their performance during a scrappy second half. Among the changes, Jiménez assisted Tommy Doyle, whose attempt flew over the bar.

As Wolves appeared to run out of ideas and energy, Jiménez’s late penalty ensured the hosts left with a point, coolly converting against Hoth to finish the match level.

Special Credits: Image Courtesy of Espn