MARCH 16 — Coventry City stunned Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 with two injury-time goals in a rollercoaster FA Cup tie at Molineux Stadium on Saturday as the Championship side reached the semi-finals for only the second time in the club’s history.
Wolves had looked set for a trip to Wembley after Rayan Ait-Nouri cancelled out Ellis Simms’ second-half opener, and Hugo Bueno then put the home side ahead in the 88th minute.
But Simms grabbed a second in the seventh minute of added time before team mate Haji Wright scored the winner in the 10th minute of injury time, curling his shot into the corner to send the Coventry fans, team and staff alike wild with delight.
Simms’s double made him the first Coventry player to score five goals in a single FA Cup campaign since Keith Houchen in 1986-87, the year Coventry won the cup — the biggest trophy in the club’s 140-year history.
“A great occasion, the fans have been amazing and we’re just delighted. I’m so proud of the lads. We’ve dug in, and even at 2-1 down we never gave up,” Simms told ITV.
“It’s going to be a great occasion at Wembley. We want to go all the way. The next round will be tough against a top Premier League team but we will give it our all and go in with all guns blazing.”
Coventry took the lead in the 53rd minute from a free kick when Simms bundled the ball into the net, with the goal awarded after a lengthy VAR check for handball in the buildup.
Wolves, who were missing Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-chan, Matheus Cunha and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde through injury, had offered very little threat until Ait-Nouri swept home in the 83rd minute when Coventry failed to clear a cross.
“Credit to the players and the fans, the players gave everything and Coventry met us on a day where we weren’t at full strength and they were able to capitalise on it. They deserved to win the game,” Wolves manager Gary O’Neil told the BBC.
“Losing in a quarter-final is obviously a missed opportunity, we produced as good as we could produce. That was it, the lads gave everything.”
Then, five minutes later, substitute Bueno put Wolves in front with his first senior goal, and a ticket to the semis had looked all but guaranteed.
But Simms grabbed a second at the far post to keep Coventry alive before Wright sent their fans into delirium with the winner.
“There’s a lot of quality in our side and as long as we believe and keep trying, we can take our chances,” Wright said.
“It’s amazing to make it to Wembley and it will be good fun for all of us. Hopefully we can enjoy it (today) and then get back to work.” — Reuters
