Raul Jimenez Secures Late Winner for Wolves Against Sheffield United
Raul Jimenez stepped off the bench and ripped the script at Bramall Lane, smashing in a 90th-minute winner to drag Wolves past Sheffield United in a cagey 1-0 contest.
One chance. One clean strike. Three points.
Late drama after penalty fury
For a long time, this never looked like a game that would be decided in such dramatic fashion. It looked like the sort of afternoon where one big decision might be all anyone talked about.
That moment came five minutes after the restart.
Mateus Mane flicked the ball towards goal, Mark McGuinness stretched out an arm, and the ball clearly struck it inside the box. Wolves players appealed, away fans roared, but referee Rob Jones pointed to the corner flag, not the spot.
On Sky Sports Football, Gary Rowett did not hold back: “His arm comes out, it hits him on the end of the arm. I think Sheffield United have probably got away with one there.”
They had. And for a while, it felt like that escape might be the foundation of a stubborn home point.
Blades blunt in front of goal
Sheffield United’s recent record at Bramall Lane has been chaotic – both scoring and conceding in 14 of their previous 15 Championship home games. This was the day that chaos finally dried up.
Chris Wilder’s side barely laid a glove on Wolves in the first half. Two touches in the opposition box. An xG of 0.06. Numbers that told the story of a team that simply could not find a way through.
At the other end, Wolves probed without truly tearing the game open. Rodrigo Gomes fizzed a cross onto the boot of Marshall Munetsi on 19 minutes, but his first-time drive went straight at Michael Cooper. Hugo Bueno then curled just wide from the edge of the box 10 minutes after the penalty shout.
The visitors carried the greater threat, but Cooper’s gloves stayed largely clean. It was controlled pressure, not an onslaught.
Ayew’s nearly moment
The game finally flickered into life when Sheffield United’s debutant almost stole it.
Jordan Ayew, thrown into the fray and desperate to make an instant mark, drove in from the right with 67 minutes gone. He whipped a vicious cross-shot across the face of goal, the ball skimming just past the far post with Jose Sa beaten.
Bramall Lane rose, sensing a late surge. It never truly came.
Ladislav Krejci, already booked, risked disaster when he hauled down Sydie Peck on the hour but escaped a second yellow. It summed up the afternoon: tense, scrappy, always on the edge, but rarely spilling over into real quality.
Jimenez delivers the punchline
So it needed a moment of clarity. It came right at the death.
Andre found Kieran Trippier, Trippier moved it on to Tommy Doyle, and suddenly the ball was where Wolves wanted it – at the feet of Raul Jimenez in the box.
The Mexican did not hesitate. One sweep of his right boot, low and precise from close range, and the ball was in the net. Cooper beaten. Bramall Lane stunned. The away end exploded.
It was Jimenez’s third goal of the season, and by far his most important. A veteran finish from a 35-year-old who still lives for that moment.
Wilder: ‘They punish you if you switch off’
Chris Wilder cut a frustrated figure afterwards, knowing his side had kept Wolves at arm’s length for most of the afternoon only to be floored late on.
“It's top-end Championship football when you're playing teams like we have done today. They punish you if you just switch off for a moment,” he told Sky Sports.
“The players maybe didn't get what they deserved from the game, but that's how the Championship is at times, so we have to roll with that and handle it.
“Especially in the second half, we limited a very attacking team to virtually nothing. I don't think Michael [Cooper] had a save to make.
“It's just disappointing, with the positions we've got into, that we've not found that little bit of quality to get our noses in front.”
Wilder’s complaint was simple: his team did most of the hard work, but never found the edge.
Peixoto hails his bench – and his captain
On the opposite touchline, Cesar Peixoto saw a different story: a disciplined away performance capped by the impact of his substitutes.
“It's an important win for us. We knew it was going to be difficult to play in this stadium against this team,” the Wolves head coach said.
“Today, the team was a team for 90 minutes. It was important the guys who came from the bench pushed in the last minutes to try to score. We scored and we won.
“I think we deserved it because we were the better team, but it was a difficult game for us.”
Jimenez, again, sat at the heart of it.
“He's 35 years old, so we have to manage him the best way. He's a key player for us. This week, we have three games, so we had to manage the options. Raul, as a captain, helped the team from the bench, not only with the goal he scored, but he helped to defend the set-pieces.”
Managed minutes. Maximum impact.
Wolves leave Bramall Lane with a clean sheet, a statement away win and their captain still writing decisive chapters. For Sheffield United, the question lingers: how many more times can they walk this tightrope before late lapses start to define their season?
