Jiménez bails Wolves out on day one

The rescue act nobody wanted to need

There is a version of this story where Jiménez's late penalty is a romantic moment — the veteran striker, World Cup pedigree intact, riding to the rescue in Wolves colours. The problem is the context. This is the Championship. This is day one. Wolves needed their most decorated forward to bail them out from the bench against a side that finished in the second tier last season too.

Jiménez did what he had to do. The penalty, won after Alebiosu's handball, was converted in stoppage time to level things up, and Wolves left with a point. Per The Guardian, that was the story: a late intervention preventing something worse.

The bigger picture for Wolves

Relegation from the Premier League is one thing. Struggling to beat Blackburn Rovers on the opening weekend is another kind of reality check entirely. Wolves will have arrived at this fixture expecting to be one of the division's heavyweight presences — a club with Premier League infrastructure, a World Cup striker, and genuine promotion ambitions. What they got instead was a reminder that the Championship does not hand anything out on reputation.

One point, plenty of questions

One game tells you very little. Wolves have the squad depth and the pedigree to be serious contenders for an immediate return, and a draw on the opening day is hardly a catastrophe. But the manner of it matters. Coming from behind, relying on a substitute penalty in added time, against opposition that was not expected to trouble them.

Jiménez looked at the ball on the spot. He didn't look nervous. The penalty went in. Now Wolves need to make sure that's a footnote, not a pattern.