Two goals in three minutes from wanted man Jørgen Strand Larsen completed a stirring Wolves comeback as they beat West Ham 3-2 in the Carabao Cup second round.
The Norwegian striker, a transfer target for Newcastle, stepped off the bench to provide a pair of unstoppable finishes eight and six minutes from time to get Molineux rocking.
Wolves led at half-time thanks to Rodrigo Gomes squeezing in a rebound after Hwang Hee-chan’s 43rd-minute penalty had cannoned back off the inside of a post but close-range headers from deliveries got the visitors back on track.
Tomas Soucek powered down inside the far post from a swirling Kyle Walker-Peters ball five minutes into the second half, with West Ham soaking up some pressure before moving in front in the 63rd minute, Jarrod Bowen crossing from the right touchline for the unmarked Lucas Paqueta to nod inside Sam Johnstone’s near post.
However, the home manager, Vitor Pereira, who had made no fewer than eight changes to his starting lineup, threw on the cavalry with 17 minutes to go, adding punch to the pressure that Wolves had been building, with Strand Larsen the hero. Hugo Bueno cut back to the edge of the box and while Andre’s powerful low hit came back off Alphonse Areola’s leg, Strand Larsen was there to guide into the roof of the net in the 82nd minute.
And the crowd were still on their feet when the turnaround was completed, a one-two between Jhon Arias and Strand Larsen seeing the former’s shot blocked by Areola’s leg with the rebound quickly put back into the penalty area from the right by Jackson Tchatchoua for Strand Larsen to power home through the crowd.
West Ham have endured a miserable August, losing all three games, and the captain, Jarrod Bowen, had to be ushered away from the visiting fans by Soucek after reacting to a remark at the end. Afterwards, Bowen posted on social media, apologising to the club’s fans.
Huddersfield reached the third round with a 6-5 penalty shootout win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Having drawn 1-1 in normal time, the game was decided on penalties and the shootout reached sudden death, where Milan Aleksic’s spot-kick was saved for Huddersfield to snatch victory.
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Both sides showed numerous changes from their weekend starting line-ups and the League One outfit went ahead in the ninth minute through Leo Castledine’s volley. However, Castledine’s fellow Chelsea loanee Marc Guiu made an impact to equalise with his first Sunderland goal in the 84th minute to take the tie to penalties, where Huddersfield prevailed.
