Raul Jimenez was the returning hero at Molineux as the Mexican striker netted a stoppage time penalty to secure Wolverhampton Wanderers a point against Blackburn Rovers.
Blackburn were on course for a shock three points on the opening night of the 2026/27 Championship season when Wolves were awarded a contentious penalty decision, and Jimenez subsequently stepped up to dispatch the spot-kick.
Cesar Peixoto's first league match had started swimmingly as the run of Marshall Munetsi was picked out by Fer Lopez and the Zimbabwean slipped an effort beneath Balazs Toth to put the hosts ahead after 18 minutes.
Wolves pressured for a second but Blackburn survived the onslaught, and they were rewarded nine minutes later when a succession of crosses eventually culminated in Sean McLoughlin directing Ryoya Morishita's cross beyond Daniel Bentley.
Tony Mowbray's side took a shock lead early in the second half when Andri Gudjohnsen finished off an incisive Blackburn move, but with the Lancashire outfit on the verge of a precious three points, Ryan Alebiosu was judged to have handled the ball inside the penalty area and Jimenez sent Toth the wrong way to share a claim of the spoils.
Wolves v Blackburn Timeline
18' - GOAL! Wolves. Scored by Marshall Munetsi, assisted by Fer Lopez.
27' - GOAL! Blackburn. Scored by Sean McLoughlin, assisted by Ryoya Morishita.
34' - Yellow card for Harry Pickering.
35' - Yellow card for Todd Cantwell.
45' - Yellow card for Adam Forshaw.
48' - GOAL! Blackburn. Scored by Andri Gudjohnsen, assisted by Dapo Afolayan.
52' - Yellow card for Mateus Mane.
55' - Sam Morsy replaced Adam Forshaw.
60' - Raul Jimenez replaced Mateus Mane.
68' - Tommy Doyle replaced Rodrigo Gomes, Jackson Tchatchoua replaced Kieran Trippier.
68' - Jayden Fevrier replaced Dapo Afolayan, Yuki Ohashi replaced Todd Cantwell.
79' - Pedro Lima replaced Andre, Tawanda Chirewa replaced David Moller Wolfe.
79' - Jake Garrett replaced Andri Gudjohnsen, Yuri Ribeiro replaced Ryoya Morishita.
90+3' - GOAL! Wolves. Scored by Raul Jimenez.
Wolves v Blackburn Match Stats
Wolves | 2-2 | Blackburn |
55% | Possession | 45% |
2.04 | Expected Goals (xG) | 0.82 |
18 | Shots | 10 |
3 | Shots on Target | 5 |
3 | Goalkeeper Saves | 1 |
2 | Big Chances | 1 |
5 | Corners | 5 |
501 | Total Passes | 399 |
85% | Pass Accuracy | 81% |
9 | Successful Tackles | 8 |
17 | Clearances | 32 |
1 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
0 | Red Cards | 0 |
