Raul Jimenez scored a late penalty as Wolves drew 2-2 with Blackburn Rovers in the opening game of the 2026-27 Championship season.

Blackburn looked to be on their way to a shock win at Molineux after Sean McLoughlin and Andri Gudjohnsen gave the visitors a 2-1 lead, but Jimenez scored a 93rd-minute equaliser to rescue a draw for Cesar Peixoto's side.

Wolves took the lead after just 18 minutes in their first league match since being relegated from the Premier League as Marshall Munetsi showed great composure to finish past Balazs Toth, following a great pass from Fer Lopez.

Blackburn responded against the run of play, however, as McLoughlin timed his run to perfection to get in front of Toti Gomes and glance Ryoya Morishita into the far corner.

The hosts looked to be in the ascendancy before half-time as both Lopez and Mateus Mane saw shots fly narrowly over the bar, but Blackburn were in front just three minutes into the second half as Gudjohnsen tapped in from Oladapo Afolayan's deflected cross.

Wolves struggled to create many clear-cut chances, but were handed a lifeline in stoppage time as Ryan Alebiosu stopped a cross with his arm, and Jimenez made no mistake from 12 yards out as he sent Toth the wrong way.

Raul to the rescue

Wolves are seen as one of the favourites to earn promotion to the Premier League this season, but a defeat in their first home game of the season, and against Blackburn, who finished 20th last season, would have been a surprise.

Nevertheless, a late equaliser for Wolves will give them some momentum ahead of their trip to Preston North End next week, while their love for Jimenez grows deeper following his latest heroic action at Molineux.

Despite coming on in the 60th minute, Jimenez recorded the second-most shots of any Wolves player (three), while winning three of his five duels and creating one chance for his team-mates.

A point was perhaps the least Wolves deserved after accumulating 2.04 expected goals (xG) from 18 shots to Blackburn's 0.82 from 10 attempts, but the visitors will be ruing the late error from Alebiosu.