Jimenez penalty rescues Wolves from Championship opener collapse against Blackburn

Raul Jimenez’s stoppage-time penalty earned Wolverhampton Wanderers a 2-2 draw against Blackburn Rovers in their Championship opener at Molineux on Friday evening, rescuing a point for new head coach Cesar Peixoto after a defensive display that will concern the club’s promotion ambitions.

Wolves, relegated from the Premier League in 2025-26, entered the night as heavy favourites against a Blackburn side returning under manager Tony Mowbray. Yet it was the visitors who exposed a clear vulnerability, scoring twice from deliveries into the six-yard box to twice cancel out Wolves’ lead before Jimenez converted from the spot in added time.

Both Blackburn goals followed an identical blueprint. Sean McLoughlin glanced a header beyond goalkeeper Dan Bentley to level the scores, before Andri Gudjohnsen turned in Oladapo Afolaby Afolayan’s cutback across the face of goal to put Rovers in front. Neither chance was well defended, and the pattern — low crosses met by a forward lurking close to the goalkeeper — is one opposition managers across the Championship will have noted.

Peixoto, a 46-year-old former Porto midfielder making his first managerial appointment outside Portugal, acknowledged after the match that Wolves had wanted all three points and was not satisfied with one. The result, however, may flatter his side; without Jimenez’s late intervention, they would have opened the season with a defeat.

The expectation around Molineux is that Wolves will return to the Premier League at the first attempt. That ambition was audible on the streets outside the ground before kick-off, and the club’s new ownership and management structure have done little to temper it. Relegated sides do carry certain structural advantages over rivals in the second tier, but teams that drop following a difficult season can take time to stabilise.

Blackburn, streetwise and well-organised, demonstrated on Friday that the Championship will not simply yield to Wolves’ Premier League pedigree. Peixoto was measured in his post-match assessment, noting it was only one game, but the defensive frailty at set-pieces and crosses is a problem that will need addressing before it becomes a recurring theme.