Raul Jimenez scored a stoppage-time equaliser from the penalty spot on his return to Molineux to salvage a 2-2 draw for Wolves against Blackburn.

Wolves took the lead through Marshall Munetsi when Fer Lopez threaded the ball through for him to finish neatly beyond Balazs Hoth. But Blackburn scored a deserved equaliser when Sean McLoughlin nodded in from Ryoya Morishita’s right-wing cross.

And Rovers stunned most of the 30,984 inside Molineux when Andri Gudjohnsen converted from close range early in the second half. Wolves turned to returning hero Jimenez off the bench but there was very little sign of them finding an equaliser.

That changed when Jackson Tchatchoua’s left-wing cross struck the hand of the otherwise excellent Ryan Alebiosu just inside the box and the referee awarded a penalty. Jimenez held his nerve to snatch a point for Cesar Peixoto’s Wolves side.

It was barely deserved. Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn, unfancied going into the campaign before a ball was kicked, could not hold on for the victory but did exceed expectations. Wolves will need to improve significantly if they are to come close to satisfying theirs.

Key moments at Molineux

18 – GOAL! Munetsi opens the scoring for Wolves

28 – GOAL! McLoughlin nods Blackburn level

49 – GOAL! Gudjohnsen slots Blackburn ahead

60 – SUB! Cometh the hour? Jimenez is introduced

90+3 – GOAL! Jimenez converts a penalty to equalise

Jimenez: We need to learn from this

Wolves hero Raul Jimenez speaking to Sky Sports:

“It’s amazing to be back, scoring in the first game of the season. It’s not the result we were looking for in our first home game of the new season, so we need to learn from this. All the games are going to be difficult here, no matter who we play against.

“We need to keep going, it’s just the start. I’m going to keep working and going forward to keep improving with the team, to hopefully earn many points and score a lot of goals.”

On giving out free ‘Si Senor’ scarves to the Wolves supporters in the Sir Jack Hayward Stand:

“It’s nice to give them back some love that they were showing me for the past eight years, even when I wasn’t here at the club. I felt the big love they had for me, so it’s the least I could do.”

Peixoto: We played with heart not head

Wolves boss Cesar Peixoto speaking to Sky Sports:

“It’s not the result we wanted, we wanted to win. We were better in the first half, we created a lot of situations but didn’t score. In the second half we suffered a bit more, we conceded the goal.

“After that we played more with heart than with our heads or brain. We lost organisation and it was more difficult after that.

“But the effort of the players was good. We showed big heart to fight until the end. We want to be a team who never gives up, but we have to improve and stay organised.”

Relegation hangover for Wolves?

Speaking to Peixoto in the press conference afterwards, it was a chance to ask him why Wolves lost their organisation. It is hardly a new phenomenon at Molineux but it would have been new to the Portuguese coach who has seen a controlled team in pre-season.

“The stadium is amazing, a lot of supporters, a good crowd that supports until the end. But it’s normal when things are not the right way, the way the team wants, the players want, and the past comes and they play more with the heart than with the brain.”

The past comes. That is the fear for Wolves. It was a packed house but that brings expectation and the players struggled to cope with that once they fell behind. On paper, the problems came before – conceding twice – and they did find that late equaliser.

In reality, the most worrying period came when behind. “We didn’t wait for the right triggers to go like we do normally in the last games and because of that if you go press high, the team doesn’t stay compact in the right moments. We had more difficulties.”

Panicky players and a panicky crowd on night one of this Championship slog does not bode particularly well. Wolves will make changes to the personnel in the coming weeks and the hope is that this will help. But if past frustrations linger it could be a real issue.

Mowbray: It looks outside the box to me

Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray speaking to Sky Sports:

“Having watched the still pictures it looks outside the box to me.

“If it hits him on the hand and it’s away from his body I suppose in modern-day football [it’s a penalty] I suppose. But it still looks outside the box to me.”

Blackburn boss answers the doubters

Mowbray revealed afterwards that he had been listening to the radio on the journey down to Wolverhampton and heard a number of pundits tipping his Blackburn team for relegation. They saw a team that narrowly escaped the drop and might have weakened.

Speaking to Mowbray in the press conference, it was a chance to ask him how that talk made him feel. “We invested in a young boy from Stockport County [Jayden Fevrier] and a free transfer [Sam Morsy] and they probably think, ‘oh they’re going down now’,” he said.

“I have asked the dressing room and the collective spirit of the dressing room to stand up and say what we thought. And I think we showed today there’s enough quality there to give teams problems, even better teams in the league.” This was an encouraging start.

What the result means and next fixtures…

Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said references the team received backing up cornerback Terrion Arnold led the organization to conclude that the benefits of signing the 2024 first-round draft pick outweighed the potential risk of adding a player facing multiple felony charges.

MacDonald told reporters Friday that the Seahawks have an agreement to sign Arnold, who was released by the Detroit Lions less than a week after he was arrested on charges of kidnapping and robbery in June, but the timetable for his arrival remained uncertain.

“We had a great visit with Terrion (during his workout),” Macdonald said. “Obviously, we knew him going through the (2024 predraft) process, and I referenced the folks that had been in his corner throughout the whole process as well, and we respect those people and we’re not going to ignore those folks that we really respect and have a strong opinion about it as well. So kind of when you put all those things together, we felt like it was a good opportunity for the team.”

Arnold has been charged with eight felony counts stemming from a February incident — four counts of kidnapping and four counts of armed robbery. He voluntarily surrendered to authorities June 24 in Tampa, Fla. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to life in prison.

Arnold remains free to play in the NFL while his criminal case moves through the court system. The 23-year-old’s next scheduled court appearance is a status hearing Oct. 5 in Tampa, and Macdonald said the Seahawks are willing to let the legal process play out.

“I think it was an opportunity to bring on a player that we felt strongly about during the (2024) draft process,” Macdonald said. “And we also understand that it’s a serious situation with a legal matter that there’s a process behind it, so we respect that.”

It remains unclear whether Arnold will face discipline from the NFL. The league could place him on the commissioner’s exempt list, which would prevent him from practicing or playing during that period. Macdonald said the Seahawks have not received any information from the league regarding his availability. He said the team will “let the league decide if and when his return to play (occurs).”

Arnold worked out for Seattle last Sunday, with portions of the workout later featured on the television program “Hard Knocks.” He also visited with the Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints and New York Giants.

Macdonald was asked about the visit earlier this week, and he said the team received positive reports from those who were around him at Alabama. On Friday, he went even further, saying the feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive.” That included conversations with people within the Seahawks organization who know him, most notably backup quarterback Jalen Milroe, who played with Arnold at Alabama.

“We felt like we’ve done our due diligence, but it’s something in terms of the legal situation, we can’t make a comment on it right now,” Macdonald said. “We had a great discussion. It was a real discussion. … I have a responsibility coming from the organization about what we expect, and also what our vision would be for him and how it would operate. And he was great. I appreciated his honesty.”

Macdonald said Arnold’s references, combined with Seattle’s familiarity with him from the 2024 NFL Draft process, gave the team additional confidence in the decision.

“We think his skill set fits in our secondary,” Macdonald said. “He plays with a lot of energy, physicality. Some of the pattern-match stuff is more up his alley that he did at Alabama. Then, personality-wise, there’s an opportunity there, if he’s the best version of himself, that he can be a fit for us.”

Arnold was initially held without bond following his arrest. Less than a week later, Judge Christopher C. Sabella set his bail at $1 million and denied prosecutors’ request for Arnold to wear an ankle monitor. Arnold’s attorney, Harvey Steinberg, argued that requiring the monitor would effectively prevent his client from playing in the NFL.

Arnold, a 23-year-old cornerback, played in 24 games with the Lions, recording 91 tackles, 18 pass breakups, one interception, and a fumble recovery.

Now, the Seahawks, who featured a dominant defense throughout a 2025 season that resulted in a Super Bowl win, are betting that the player they evaluated as a first-round talent in 2024 is worth another opportunity — while acknowledging that the legal proceedings and potential NFL discipline remain unresolved.