A crazy cup tie at Molineux saw Premier League Wolves crash out of the FA Cup against Championship Coventry.
Coventry, who created an abundance of chances, took the lead after 53 minutes through Ellis Simms. The Sky Blues continued to create chances and missed so many opportunities to double their lead.
It seemed Gary O’Neil’s side had saved their spot in the competition, as two quick-fire goals in the 83rd and 89th minutes had turned the game on its head.
But Coventry had other ideas, as two goals in stoppage time fired Mark Robbins’ side to Wembley.
It was a wonderful performance from the championship high-flyers, who for large spells of the game looked like the Premier League side and are now in the FA Cup semi-finals.
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Wolves
José Sá - 7/10
He went down injured in the 12th minute and received treatment on his thigh, but he managed to continue. Sá made two fantastic saves with just ten minutes left in the first half as Simms created an excellent chance for van Ewijk, but Sa raced off his line, made himself big, and smothered the ball to deny Coventry a lead before halftime.
The Portuguese goalkeeper kept Wolves in the game all afternoon and made vital saves, but even that was not enough to take Wolves to Wembley.
Nélson Semedo - 7/10
He always looked to play progressively, was a good attacking full-back, and didn’t make many mistakes.
VAR checked for a potential red card after a high boot from him but determined that no further action was required. Some might have considered him to have been lucky not to have taken an early bath.
Max Kilman - 5/10
Kilman frequently won the ball in high areas in the first half. Played a good cutback to Ait-Nouri after 25 minutes, which the Algerian fullback should have scored from.
Came under a lot of pressure in the second half. It is hard to rate any central defender higher than a five in a backline that has conceded three goals.
Santiago Bueno - 5/10
In the same case as Kilman, he came under a lot of defensive pressure in a Wolves backline that was constantly under pressure and looked extremely unorganised.
Toti Gomes - 4/10
Toti failed to have any true impact on the game. He was substituted after an hour.
Rayan Aït-Nouri - 8/10
Fantastic link-up play with João Gomes. He looked like a real threat on the overlap in wide areas. He possesses outrageous passing accuracy and played a wonderful ball in behind, which Sariaba couldn’t quite dispatch.
He hit the post with just twelve minutes to play. To bring Wolves level, all he had to do with his headed effort was hit the target, and they would have been back in the game.
The Algerian full-back ended up finishing the game as a forward as Wolves looked for a way back into the tie. He levelled the scoring for the Wanderers as Gomes crossed the ball, which bounced off of a Coventry defender straight into the path of Ait-Nouri, who met it on the volley, putting it past Collins. He set up the equaliser and was by far the best Wanderers player on the pitch.
João Gomes - 5/10
Gomes worked very hard but lost the ball quite often. Wolves were overran in midfield, which allowed Coventry to enjoy spells of dominance.
Tommy Doyle - 6/10
He worked very hard, broke up play well, won the majority of his duels, and defended solidly. Was substituted for Bueno with fifteen minutes to play.
Mario Lemina - 6/10
Lemina was a creative spark in the centre of the park for the Wanderers, especially in the first half. He always looked like a threat, constantly forward-thinking.
Pablo Sarabia - 6/10
He was unnoticeable for the majority of the game and failed to have an impact, the Coventry defence kept him relatively quiet.
Nathan Fraser - 5/10
Fraser worked hard and always tried to apply pressure. But he was outmatched by more experienced players. He was often trying to feed on scraps and held the ball up well on occasions, but ultimately he looked slightly out of his depth.
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Substitutions
Matt Doherty - 5/10
He was very similar to Toti, who failed to help his side defensively against a Coventry attack that was far superior on the day.
Leon Chiwome - 5/10
Chiwome failed to bring much to the party.
Hugo Bueno - 7/10
Bueno didn’t have many opportunities to have an impact on the game, but when one arose, he took it brilliantly. He scored what seemed to be the winner for Wolves until a frantic period of stoppage time saw Coventry score two goals in nine minutes and steal the spot at Wembley.
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Coventry
Bradley Collins - 7/10
He wasn’t really tested, but when called into action, he always got his side out of trouble; there wasn’t anything he could do about either Wolves goals.
Jake Bidwell - 8/10
He was very good defensively for the Sky Blues; he always put his body on the line, and the Wolves front line could not get a sniff out of him. He was up and down the left flank all afternoon. Bidwell was strong on the ball and set up great opportunities for Coventry. A tremendous performance.
Liam Kitching - 7/10
Kitching was very solid in defence. Headed the ball across the box towards Ellis Simms, which earned City their opener. He nearly put the Sky Blues two in front, but Sa made a fantastic save.
Bobby Thomas - 7/10
Thomas was great defensively and had an impressive out ball too. Crucial to Coventry’s play.
Joel Latibeaudiere - 6/10
Latibeaudiere wasn’t super effective on the right flank but nevertheless had a strong defensive input.
Josh Eccles - 8/10
He was very strong in midfield for Coventry. He broke up the play well and looked competent on the ball. Eccles did not look out of place against Premier League opposition.
Ben Sheaf - 7/10
Sheaf was absolutely everywhere; he didn’t stop working. He didn’t see much of the ball, but when he did, he was efficient with it. Defensively, he was superb.
Haji Wright - 8/10
Great link-up play with the rest of the Coventry attacking unit. Wright caused Wolves a lot of problems. He played an excellent cross from the left wing that resulted in Coventry’s equaliser.
Then, wonderfully, he made himself the hero as he scored a fantastic goal, curling the ball past Jose Sa in the final seconds of the game.
Kasey Palmer - 9/10
Palmer was a real threat, he forced an excellent save from Sa and put a chance on a plate for Elis Simms. Played a wonderful ball into the box from the free-kick that led to the goal as Kitching won the initial header, who knocked it across the box towards Simms, who put the ball in the back of the Wanderers net.
His final action of the game came as he should have doubled Coventry’s lead. Sa was caught off his line as Doherty was disposed, but Palmer just fired wide past the post from outside of the box and couldn’t make the Wanderers pay.
Milan van Ewijk- 6/10
The least noticeable of the Coventry attacking unit, the 23-year-old didn’t really have much of an impact on the game.
Ellis Simms - 9/10
A real threat on the counter. Constantly in the faces of the Wanderers defenders. Works hard in high areas, forcing mistakes and being extremely positive. He missed an absolute sitter just ten minutes before halftime; the goal was gaping, three-quarters of it was empty, and he shot straight at the keeper from a matter of yards out. Scored the vital goal to put Coventry in front, not that he knew much about it as the ball hit him and ended up in the back of the net.
Simms found the leveller for Coventry as he headed past Jose Sa from a matter of yards out.
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Substitutions
Callum O’Hare - 6/10
O’Hare did a lot of work in midfield when he came on for Coventry. A decent showing.
Victor Torp - N/A
93rd-minute substitute.
Fabio Tavares - N/A
93rd-minute substitute.
