Haji Wright struck a 100th minute winner to send Coventry past Wolves into the FA Cup semi-finals, following a dramatic 3-2 win at Molineux.
Wright curled in from Ellis Simms’ lay-off pass to snatch a dramatic comeback victory after Simms had three minutes earlier headed in his second goal of the game, having initially put the Sky Blues ahead from a controversial 53rd minute close-range strike despite a Video-Assistant Referee (VAR) check.
Rayan Ait-Nouri equalised from his 84th minute interception of Joel Latibeaudiere’s clearance with a calm strike, only to turn provider four minutes later as he teed up Hugo Bueno to net his first-ever senior goal to put Wolves on course for the last four until their injury-time heartbreak.
Coventry are the first team through to the last four of this season’s FA Cup with the semi-finals set to be played at Wembley Stadium, London, on the weekend of 20-21 April.
Coventry manager, Mark Robins’ post-match praised his Sky Blues for their bold performance despite a host of wasted chances.
“Unbelievable performance. We were brave and we played really well. We had enough of the ball to cause them problems and we did that, but we didn’t take those chances and you look at it and think it’s going to come back to bite us.”
Despite a 19-place gap between Wolves and Championship’s Coventry in the football pyramid, Robins’ Sky Blues didn’t look out of place against the Premier League in a scrappy opening 21 minutes during which Haji Wright curled wide in the 16th minute.
Wolves’ superior experience soon began to build as Pablo Sarabia met Ait-Nouri’s cross on the volley, but the Spaniard only mustered a scrappy touch which saw the shot saved by Bradley Collins.
Coventry shortly afterwards rode their luck as Ait-Nouri’s shot was blocked out to Mario Lemina who fumbled his 28th minute shot, before Collins saved Nelson Semedo’s attempt barely a minute later.
Wolves soon received a huge scare in the 35th minute as Jose Sa blocked Kasey Palmer’s shot to the feet of Jake Bidwell, who teed up Simms yards from an empty goal but the ex Everton striker tamely flicked his shot straight into Sa’s arms.
Sa spared Wolves’ blushes five minutes later as he blocked Milan van Ewijk’s shot before Liam Kitching nodded wide via a deflection from the consequential corner.
Palmer then saw a 43rd minute shot on the volley saved by Sa after he could only get a tame touch on Simms’ square-ball pass, as Coventry failed to break the deadlock before half-time.
Wolves subsequently burst out of the blocks early in the second half as Ait-Nouri nodded wide from a 47th minute corner, before he rifled wide two minutes later as he eyed up the bottom-right corner.
Those two wasted chances quickly came back to haunt Wolves as a 53rd minute free-kick was nodded across goal by Kitching at the left post which Latibeaudiere flicked onto Simms who bundled the ball into the near-right corner.
A lengthy VAR review followed but Simms’ goal eventually stood after a clear and obvious handball couldn’t be found, although ITV’s camera angle showed Lemina possibly getting a brief touch on the ball as he marked Simms at the right post.
Wolves subsequently made two changes including a debut for Leon Chiwome, and the 18 year-old almost equalised in the 65th minute, yet his shot was blocked out to Lemina who fired wide.
Sa two minutes later kept Wolves right in the game with a double save to deny Wright in-between his block of Josh Eccles’ rebound strike, before Palmer curled wide.
Wolves’ 31 year-old goalkeeper then blocked Simms’ half-volley shot in the 81st minute before he saved Kitching’s volley two minutes later.
Wolves however refused to accept the prospect of a cupset and broke forward a minute later and the ball fell for Sarabia to cross into the box, yet Latibeaudiere fumbled his clearance which fell for Ait-Nouri to smash in to restore parity.
That equaliser breathed new energy into Wolves which paid off four minutes later as a quick counter-attack from Ait-Nouri fell for Bueno to rifle into the bottom-right corner to complete the hosts’ comeback.
Coventry however delivered another curveball deep into injury-time as Simms bullet-headed in his second goal from Thomas’ headed touch of Wright’s cross.
Extra-time quickly loomed until Simms teed up Wright in the 100th minute to curl into the far-bottom right corner to send Coventry through to the semi-finals, in a stunning finish which sent the away fans wild in celebrations.
What’s Next?
Both Wolves and Coventry face a two-week wait until their next matches due to the international break.
Wolves will resume their push for European qualification via the Premier League with a Midlands derby away at Aston Villa on Easter Saturday 30 March, in a 5:30pm GMT kick-off at Villa Park.
Coventry meanwhile return their focus to the Championship Play-Offs hunt with a trip to relegation-battling Huddersfield at 3pm on Good Friday 29 March.
Teams
Wolves: Jose Sa, Max Kilman, Santiago Bueno, Toti Gomes (Docherty 60′), Nelson Semedo, Joao Gomes, Tommy Doyle (Bueno 73′), Mario Lemina, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Pablo Sarabia, Nathan Fraser (Chiwome 60′)
Substitutes: Matt Docherty, Boubacar Traore, Noha Lemina, Hugo Bueno, Daniel Bentley, Fletcher Holman, Ty Barnett, Tawanda Chirewa, Leon Chiwome
Coventry: Bradley Collins, Bobby Thomas, Joel Latibeaudiere (Tavares 90+3′), Liam Kitching, Milan van Ewijk, Ben Sheaf, Josh Eccles (Torp 90+3′), Jake Bidwell, Kasey Palmer (O’Hare 70′), Haji Wright, Ellis Simms
Substitutes: Luis Binks, Jay Dasilva, Liam Kelly, Callum O’Hare, Ben Wilson, Matty Godden, Victor Torp, Fabio Tavares, Kai Andrews
Referee: Samuel Barrott
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