Ben Fisher’s match report
Updated
Coventry reaction
Ellis Simms
Honestly, it’s great. The fans were amazing and we’re just delighted as a team. This might be the most important win of my career so far. To get to Wembley is unbelievable.
The first goal took an awful long time [for a VAR check]. One of their players was holding me and I just shouldered it in. As soon as they gave the goal it was a great feeling.
I’m so proud of the lads today. We never gave up, even at 2-1. It’ll be a great occasion at Wembley – it’s awesome. We’ve just gotta enjoy it; we want to go all the way.
Haji Wright
I’ve said many times we’ve got a lot of quality in our side and as long as we believe and keep trying, I think we’ll get our chances. Today we were able to take three of them and that was enough for the win.
It’s an amazing occasion and great fun for all of us. Hopefully we can enjoy it and then get back to work.
Both me and Ellis can attest to [the importance of Mark Robins]. We didn’t have amazing starts here but he always believed in us and gave us opportunities. Now we’re at a point where we can perform for the team.
Niall Mullen sums it all up “3-2 is a wonderful Coventry FA Cup score”
The Coventry players are having a party in front of the away end. Quite right too; they were terrific and retained an almost naive belief even when they went behind in the 88th minute.
You all deserve a lie-down after that finale. Alas, you won’t be getting one.
The Wolves players are stunned – especially Rayan Ait-Nouri, who seemed to have won the game when he scored and made the late goals that put them 2-1 ahead. But Ellis Simms equalised in added time and Haji Wright showed indecent cool to wave a 100th-minute winner past Jose Sa.
Coventry fans will be talking about that forever, and I only wish Neil Kulkarni was here to do it justice.
Full time: Wolves 2-3 Coventry
Coventry are into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1987!
What a fantastic goal to win a brilliant FA Cup tie. O’Hare, who has been terrific since coming on, beat Joao Gomes on the left and dragged a cross towards Simms at the near post. He laid it off deftly to Wright, who curled a nonchalant first-time shot into the far corner. What a finish!
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GOAL! Wolves 2-3 Coventry (Wright 90+10)
Haji Wright has just gone down in Coventry City folklore!
Oh my word, what a cup tie this has been. Wright ran down the left, away from Semedo, and teased a lofted cross towards the near post. Thomas guided a header across goal and Simms nodded it decisively past Jose Sa from close range.
Simms missed an open goal in the first half; now he’s on another FA Cup hat-trick.
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GOAL! Wolves 2-2 Coventry (Simms 90+7)
Ellis Simms has saved it for Coventry!
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90+5 min Kilman makes an important challenge on the edge of the area to thwart a good run from O’Hare.
90+4 min Ait-Nouri, who is full of confidence, tries a shot from a tight angle that is comfortably saved by Collins.
90+3 min: Double substitution for Coventry Victor Torp and Fabio Tavares replace Eccles and Latibeaudiere.
90+3 min Chiwome, who has done well since coming on, buys Wolves a bit of time by winning a free-kick near the halfway line.
90 min Bidwell’s latest excellent cross is headed across goal dangerously by Wright, but there’s nobody there. There will be nine minutes of added time.
Ait-Nouri, who scored the equaliser, has now made the winner* in superb style. Coventry were exposed from the moment he turned Thomas on the halfway line and surged infield with purpose, hugging the ball on his left foot. Chiwome got in his way for a second but Ait-Nouri kept his cool and played an eye-of-the-needle through pass to Hugo Bueno. He controlled the ball calmly on the run and swept it emphatically into the far corner.
* Probably.
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GOAL! Wolves 2-1 Coventry (H Bueno 88)
Coventry couldn’t hold on: Hugo Bueno has scored his first senior goal to put Wolves ahead!
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88 min A reminder that there will be extra-time and penalties if necessary. If the tie is still level after that, there will be a replay a week on Wuesday.
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85 min Coventry really should have been out of sight; now they’re hanging on for extra-time.
It’s a cruel moment for Latibeaudiere, who was at fault for the goal. He was caught in two minds as Joao Gomes’s cross from the right came towards him and ended up thighing the ball in the air back towards his own goal. Ait-Nouri charged onto it and cracked a decisive volley past Collins from eight yards.
Updated
GOAL! Wolves 1-1 Coventry (Ait-Nouri 84)
And just like that, Wolves are level.
82 min: Another chance for Coventry! Bidwell’s beautiful cross from the left is met on the run by Kitching, who stabs a volley that is pushed round the near post by Sa. That’s an excellent save, muybe his best yet.
81 min O’Hare’s shot from 20 yards is pawed away by the diving Sa, a tougher save than the one a moment ago, then a follow-up cross is taken off Simms’ head by Santiago Bueno. Without that touch Simms was probably have scored.
Sarabia is booked for taking out his frustration on a Coventry leg.
Updated
80 min This game is so open now. Simms runs onto a nothing ball forward, 18 yards out, and batters a volley that is beaten away by Sa. As Ally McCoist says on ITV, either side and it would have been in.
77 min: Ait-Nouri hits the post! Sarabia’s free-kick from the left is nodded back across goal by Doherty and headed onto the post by Ait-Nouri! He just couldn’t get round the ball enough to guide it between the posts.
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75 min I don’t think Doherty was fouled, in fact – he seemed to anticipate a tackle that never came and stumbled as a result. I think that’s what happened anyway.
In other news, VAR have cleared that high challenge from Semedo. It was clumsy rather than malevolent but it wouldn’t have been a surprise had he been sent off.
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74 min O’Hare ducks into a bouncing ball and is caught by the very high boot of Semedo. Play continues but there’s a VAR check.
73 min Doherty seems to be fouled by Latibeaudiere just inside the area but stays on his feet and nothing is given. There’s no time to dwell on that because Joao Gomes hits a vicious long-range shot that is touched onto the outside of the post by the flying Collins. That’s a fine save.
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73 min: Wolves substitution Hugo Bueno comes on for Tommy Doyle. Ait_Nouri has moved to the right wing.
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71 min It doesn’t detract from how well Coventry have played, but Wolves are really missing Cunha, Hwang and Pedro Neto in attack. They have struggled to create chances all day.
70 min: Coventry substitution The excellent Kasey Palmer is replaced by the exciting Callum O’Hare.
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67 min: Chances galore for Coventry! Sa makes three saves in 15 seconds, including a good one with his legs to deny Wright. Then he rolls the ball out to Doherty, who loses it, and is no man’s land when Palmer chips the ball nonchalantly over him from 20 yards. It drifts this far wide of the far post.
65 min Lemina’s snapshot from the edge of the area hits his teammate Chiwome and flies behind for a goalkick. Wolves have responded angrily to Simms’ goal.
64 min “Isn’t VAR just wonderful?” says Niall Mullen. “Five minutes of nothing happening. That doesn’t even happen in NFL.”
Even though I’d happily shoot VAR, I thought that was a really difficult decision. Besides, five minutes of nothing happening is perfect preparation for movie night: it’s The Thin Red Line.
63 min Wolves get a free-kick on the edge of the D, slightly left of centre. Doyle lethers it across goal but it’s fractionally too high. Decent effort though.
61 min Wright’s low cross is slightly behind Van Ewijk, who screws his shot high and wide as a result.
Wolves have switched to a back four with Doherty on the left wing.
59 min: Double substitution for Wolves Matt Doherty and Leon Chiwome, an 18-year-old forward, replace Toti and Nathan Fraser.
58 min The VAR check took around four minutes. Eventually they decided the evidence for handball was inconclusive so the on-field decision was upheld.
GOAL GIVEN!
Ellis Simms has put Coventry ahead with his bicep!
57 min They’re still checking… it’s fiendishly difficult to tell whether it was handball.
Updated
The ball definitely hit Simms’ right bicep before bouncing into the net, and it’s almost impossible to say whether it was above or below the line for handball.
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VAR check for handball
The goal came from a free-kick 35 yards out. Palmer curled it beyond the far post, where Kitching headed the ball back across goal. Latibeaudiere tried to score himself, but ended up shinning the ball against Simms and then into the net.
It’s Simms’s goal – but I think it hit his arm, and if so it may well be disallowed.
Updated
GOAL! Wolves 0-1 Coventry (Simms 53)
I think this might be an own goal but Coventry couldn’t give a stuff!
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51 min Haji Wright runs away from Sarabia, 25 yards out, and booms a good effort just over the bar. Coventry continue to threaten; with Wolves so light in attack, this is a great chance to reach their first FA Cup semi-final since then.
49 min Ait-Nouri plays a slick one-two with Lemina, charges to the edge of the area and shoots well wide with his right foot. A poor finish but the rest was lovely.
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46 min Coventry, in the shape of Kasey Palmer, begin the second half.
Half-time reading
Half time: Wolves 0-0 Coventrry
A terrific cross from Ait-Nouri just evades Fraser and is miscontrolled by Semedo beyond the far post. That’s the latest action of the half, an interesting arm-wrestle that ended goalless. Coventry were slightly the better team and had the best chance when Ellis Simms missed a comedy sitter, though any goal may have been ruled out for offside in the build-up.
45+1 min At the other end Lemina’s crossshot leads to a scramble in the Coventry area before Fraser flicks the ball wide. Wasn’t much of a chance.
45 min “Good day Rob,” says Kim Thonger. “I wonder if you might feel like wishing ardent Wolves fan Jan Chrin all the best. He’s sure to be following the game. He’s the only man I know who looked more like Jesus Christ than Jesus Christ himself, even when keeping goal wearing baggy shorts. He married Janice, possibly so they could both have the initials JC, in Wolverhampton in I think 1981. Marvellous Polish family wedding. Great fun.
“Such a devout Wolves fan was he that, being in charge of our University Catholic Society team strip, he managed to have it changed to the Wolves strip. As the team goal poacher and token Protestant I modelled myself on Derek Dougan. Very happy days. Jan’s a physicist with a PhD now, resident in Switzerland for many years. Bald as a coot of course, as are we all these days.”
I would love to wish ardent Wolves fan Jan Chrin all the best, especially as he sounds like somebody who wears life at a jaunty angle.
43 min: Chance for Coventry! A cross from the right ricochets around the Wolves area until Simms cushions it square to Palmer. He’s slightly off balance and sidefoots a volley straight at Sa.
41 min Coventry are back on top as we approach half-time. It’s been an interesting half, albeit without many clear chances. This might be a good time to remind you that there will be extra-time and penalties if necessary. And if the tie is still level after that, we’ll have a replay a week on Wednesday.
40 min: Fine save by Sa! Simms almost makes up for that miss with a terrific run and pass to put Van Ewijk through on goal. His shot on the run hits the rump of the outrushing Sa and ricochets just over the bar.
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37 min Had Simms scored, it might have been disallowed because Bidwell was offside when Palmer had the first shot that was pushed away by Sa. As Clive Tyldesley says on ITV, we’ll never know. Unless we know the laws.
35 min: What a miss from Simms! Oof, Coventry should be ahead. Sarabia’s dodgy pass went to Palmer, whose low shot from the edge of the area was pushed away by the diving Sa. Bidwell was first to the rebound and drove a low cross into Simms, unmarked six yards out and with an open net begging to be rippled. Alas, Simms mishit a horrible attempt that was going wide until it hit the legs of Sa.
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33 min A dangerous cross by Van Ewijk towards Simms is dealt with very deftly by Semedo, eight yards out and facing his own goal.
31 min “Gary O’Neil used the short break to make a tactical switch,” says Andy Flintoff. “Lemina and Toti Gomes are now out on the left side with Aït-Nouri moving into the middle, which is what’s causing problems for Coventry down their right.”
29 min: Another chance for Wolves! Lemina’s booming crossfield pass finds Sarabia in space on the right of the area. Sarabia plays the ball back to Semedo, whose first-time shot is well struck but straight at Collins. He pushes it away and Coventry clear the danger, for now.
28 min: Chance for Wolves! Kitching lets a long ball bounce a couple of times, which allows Semedo to nick it on the byline and move into the area. His cutback is diverted to Ait-Nouri, whose shot is blocked, and Lemina slices the rebound – which bounced awkwardly – miles wide.
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27 min Kilman has a long-range shot that is blocked. Wolves are playing better but they still haven’t tested Collins.
24 min The mood of the game has definitely changed, with Wolves on top for the first time. Gary O’Neil’s tactics talk seems to have done the job.
21 min Ait-Nouri’s imaginative, outside-of-the-boot cross just evades Sarabia, who tried to volley it first time towards goal as it came over his shoulder.
He should have done this.
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19 min Lemina wriggles away from Wright in the area and forces a cutback to Ait-Nouri at the near post. His shot is blocked and Coventry get the ball away.
16 min Palmer’s long-range shot is blocked on the edge of the area. Moments later, Wright i zips infield from the left and flashes a cross shot past the far post. A decent effort, though it didn’t trouble Sa.
Coventry are the better team right now.
15 min Sa is continuing for now. Wolves take the corner short and do bugger all with it. Coventry break through Van Ewijk, who runs the best part of 80 yards before being calmly dispossessed by Semedo (I think).
13 min Before the corner can be taken, Wolves have a problem with Jose Sa. It looks like a muscle injury and Dan Bentley is warming up. Gary O’Neil takes the opportunity to get his team over for a tactics tutorial.
12 min Ait Nouri sells Latibeaudiere a dummy on the left edge of the area and slides a cross that is put behind for a corner.
11 min Wolves’ formation is 3-4-2-1 with a box midfield – Lemina and Sarabia are closest to the lonely striker Fraser.
9 min Palmer, Coventry’s elegant No10, swerves away from Tito in midfield and finds Wright on the left. His cutback is poor and Wolves clear. Even so, this has been a good start from Coventrry.
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8 min Palmer teases the free-kick to the far post. Thomas heads it backs across goal and Wolves clear. Only for a couple of seconds though; Palmer collects and curls an even better cross that is headed behind by Kilman. The man in front of him, Haji Wright, dived for the ball but couldn’t make contact. “Keith Houchen would have scored…” says the ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley.
6 min Ait-Nouri trips Van Ewijk 30 yards from goal and is booked. Coventry have made a bright start.
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3 min Sarabia drives a long pass down the left to Ait-Nouri; he is not Usain Bolt circa 2009 and the ball skids behind for a goalkick.
2 min As expected Wolves have started with a back three, though apparently they warmed up in a back four. Come on Gary, you’re better than that.
It looks like Coventry have started with a back four though, with Latibeaudiere at right-back and Van Ewijk on the right wing. I didn’t expect that. Good old tactics.
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1 min Wolves kick off from right to left as we watch.
Some lunchtime games are playing in a muted atmosphere. But not when they’re played at Molineux; the old place is bouncing.
We also have live lunchtime action from the WSL. You can follow Everton v Aston Villa with Xaymaca Awoyungbo.
Mark Robins x FA Cup
Given the context, this is the dictionary definition of a cool finish. He was such a natural.
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‘Going to the toilet was like a mad exercise’
Ben Fisher is one of our finest interviewers, in my admirably humble opinion, and this is another cracker with Coventry’s Callum O’Hare.
Team news
Wolves are without Pedro Neto, who is effectively replaced by Tommy Doyle. The inclusion of Toti for the injured Jeanricner Bellegarde suggests a switch to a back three. Nathan Fraser starts up front, with Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan still unavailable.
Coventry bring in Milan van Ewijk and Ben Sheaf for Liam Kelly and Victor Torp.
Wolves (possible 3-5-2) Sa; S Bueno, Kilman, Toti; Semedo, Gomes, M Lemina, Doyle, Ait-Nouri; Sarabia, Fraser.
Substitutes: Doherty, Traore, N Lemina, H Bueno, Bentley, Holman, Barnett, Chirewa, Chiwome.
Coventry (possible 3-4-1-2) Collins; Thomas, Latibeaudiere, Kitching; Van Ewijk, Eccles, Sheaf, Bidwell; Palmer; Wright, Simms.
Substitutes: Binks, Dasilva, Kelly, O’Hare, Wilson, Godden, Torp, Tavares, Andrews.
Referee Sam Barrott.
✌️ Two changes from #WOLFUL
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 16, 2024
➡️ Toti and Doyle into the XI
How we line-up to face @Coventry_City.
🐺📋 @AstroPay_OK pic.twitter.com/4zO6maYOdz
HE'S HERE, HE'S THERE! 🎶
— Coventry City (@Coventry_City) March 16, 2024
📋 Your team for this afternoon's @EmiratesFACup QF against @Wolves.#PUSB pic.twitter.com/z7UNJHUqT7
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of the first FA Cup quarter-final between Wolves and Coventry. It’s the only game in the last eight that doesn’t involve a Big club, and for that we should be grateful. Those games have their own appeal but so does this – no entitlement, a healthy amount of innocence and the chance to do something special.
Coventry haven’t reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup since they won it so magically in 1987. Wolves have only done so twice since 1981, and they haven’t played in a final since they won the competition in 1960. That’s a realistic ambition this year, especially given their record and performances against the aforementioned Big sides.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves: Coventry are a fine team who are again in contention promotion after recovering from a dismal start. That remains the main focus of their season, but they wouldn’t say no to an FA Cup semi-final on the side.
Kick off 12.15pm.
* not to be confused with a big club
