SPORT Epic battle ends in agony for Puel

Jota hat-trick seals last-gasp Wolves win

THIS was a magnificent match of carnage and craft, where the intensity began at kick-off and lasted until the final dramatic seconds.

At its culmination Nuno Espirito Santo was in the stands, having been sent off for celebrating Diogo Jota’s stoppagetime goal on the pitch, and Leicester players were strewn across the turf.

Twice Leicester thought they had rescued a draw from the jaws of defeat, only to be undone in the 93rd minute.

In keeping with a game of attacking quality, the decisive goal was a beauty. Ruben Neves bisected Jonny Evans and Ben Chilwell with a pinpoint pass to Raul Jimenez, who squared for Jota at the far post and he applied the finish to complete his hat-trick and spark delirium at Molineux.

It was a finale to make this a contender for game of the season and a repeat scoreline from October 2003 when Wolves famously rose from 3-0 down. Nuno ran to be with his players, who had amassed in a ruck on the floor, and for stepping onto the field he was dismissed from the touchline for the closing stages.

At the moment Jota struck Claude Puel placed his head in his hands and screamed in anger. This was a fourth defeat in five games and the damage could easily get worse. Leicester’s next three fixtures are against Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham.

Puel’s position is perennially precarious and the way his team discarded a point will count against him. Kasper Schmeichel marched down the tunnel with a face of thunder after Wilfred Ndidi’s fatal mistake of conceding possession in midfield and failing to close down Neves.

‘We didn’t manage the close of the game in the right attitude,’ Puel said. ‘We were naive a lot, that is a big disappointment. I hope we can learn.’

The emotions were the opposite for Nuno. ‘I was sent off, but rightly so,’ the Wolves manager said. Jota added: ‘In a game like this when you win you feel the greatest man in the world. This is the kind of game I watched as a kid and now I am a part of it.’

The first whistle had acted like a release of the handbrake and Wolves went freewheeling at Leicester.

In the third minute Schmeichel pulled off a spectacular save, flying through the air to tip over a trademark longrange shot from Neves. But he was beaten from the corner. Leicester cleared only for Leander Dendoncker to dispossess Demarai Gray, enabling Jimenez to find Joao Moutinho on the wing. Jota anticipated Moutinho’s cross better than Danny Simpson and prodded the ball in.

Wolves made it two in the 13th minute. Moutinho delivered a good corner and Ryan Bennett beat Harry Maguire in the air to head home. Maguire struggled getting off the ground and would later come off injured.

‘Sacked in the morning,’ Wolves supporters sang at Puel. A significant number in the Leicester section joined in. But Leicester emerged for the second half with determination and inside seven minutes they were level.

First Vardy anticipated a bouncing ball better than Bennett and passed to Gray, who was bursting through from midfield. Gray raced into the box, rode a tackle by Romain Saiss that could have brought a penalty, and drove his finish low beyond Rui Patricio.

Then Ben Chilwell powered down the left flank with purpose, only stopped by two Wolves defenders. The ball fell into the path of Harvey Barnes and his shot nestled in the back of the net after diverting through Conor Coady’s legs. The adjudicators would rule it an own goal. Wolves retook the lead through a piece of brilliance by Neves. The 21year-old moved sharply onto a clearance near his own area and looked up to see Jota running some 50 yards ahead. The pass was exquisite and Jota did the rest with a low finish.

James Maddison came off the bench and three minutes from the end hit a wonderful deep free-kick that looked like it would earn his team a point.

Wes Morgan attacked the delivery, and headed the ball past Patricio.

But it was not the final act.