Wolves 4 Fulham 4: Cottagers throw away 3-1 lead against struggling Wolves in exhilarating draw at Molineux
Play-off chasing away side raced ahead in the first half, before Wolves thought they had won it in 90th minute, only to throw it away in 94th
Fulham’s Floyd Ayite earned a dramatic point with a stoppage-time equaliser in a dramatic 4-4 Sky Bet Championship draw against Wolves at Molineux.
Fulham had thrown away a 3-1 half-time lead to trail 4-3 before Ayite scored his second goal of the game from three yards when he converted a Tomas Kalas header.
Wolves had looked set to crash to a fifth successive home defeat after Fulham took control.
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But a 65th-minute strike from Matt Doherty sparked a Wolves comeback before Ivan Cavaleiro drew them level nine minutes later.
Dave Edwards struck in the final minute after Nouha Dicko had a shot blocked and that looked set to seal the win before Ayite’s late, late show in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Kortney Hause had opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with his first goal for Wolves.
Stefan Johansen pulled Fulham level 10 minutes later before Ayite’s first goal since his summer switch from Bastia gave them a 39th-minute lead.
Fulham skipper Tom Cairney looked to have sealed a fourth win in six games for Fulham on the stroke of half-time but Wolves’ second-half revival robbed them of a first league win at Molineux since 1985.
Wolves were forced to hand a senior debut to 19-year-old goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne after Carl Ikeme and Andy Lonergan were both ruled out through injury and Burgoyne had an early let-off when Ayite’s opportunist shot was deflected wide of his near post.
Fulham also had to survive a scare in the opening exchanges when Cavaleiro looked to set to convert a sixth-minute cross from Dicko only for Ryan Fredericks to clear the ball at the far post.
Fulham had dominated the game in terms of possession, but that counted for nothing when they were undone at a corner by Hause.
Hause rose above the static Fulham defence to power a header past David Button following Helder Costa’s cross.
Wolves should then have doubled their advantage in the 32nd minute when Dicko forced Button to spill the ball but then pulled his shot across the face of an empty goal.
It was a costly miss as Fulham were level seconds later following more good work by the lively Fredericks, whose right-wing cross was converted by the onrushing Johansen.
Wolves were struggling to keep Fredericks in check and, after Cavaleiro had blazed over the bar from close range, he turned provider again to put Fulham in control.
Once again a right-wing cross deceived the Wolves defence and Ayite was on hand at the far post to head home.
Fulham then strengthened their position further thanks to a stunning piece of finishing from Cairney.
Johansen’s left-wing cross found Cairney in acres of space 25 yards from goal and his first-time volley gave Burgoyne no chance.
Predictably, Wolves started the second half with a flourish and Dave Edwards and Doherty both had shots charged down in the space of a frantic few seconds.
After Burgoyne then denied Cairney and Sone Aluko, Wolves’ more positive approach paid off.
Conor Coady’s cross was flicked on by Dicko and Doherty was on hand to steer the ball in from close range.
Doherty was then on hand to release Cavaleiro and the former Monaco forward showed the Fulham defence a clean pair of heels before firing an unstoppable drive past Button from 16 yards to set up the dramatic finale.