Wolves suffered late set-piece heartbreak once again at Molineux as relegation rivals Ipswich Town battled until the last kick of the game to earn all three points in an afternoon to forget.
After going behind to a Matt Doherty own goal on 15 minutes, after a Toti goalline clearance inadvertently hit the Irishman before falling into his own net, Wolves battled back in the second half.
There were chances galore for both Jorgen Strand Larsen and Matheus Cunha after the break, and it was the latter who got Wolves back on level terms when he smashed an effort into the Ipswich net from a tight angle.
Despite putting the pressure on Ipswich, it was the visitors who walked away with the win, as another set-piece goal proved costly to Gary O’Neil’s men, when a corner – in the final minute of the match – found Jack Taylor unmarked in the box, and the midfielder made no mistake with his header.
With both teams looking for their first win in four attempts, it was a cagey opening quarter of an hour at Molineux as neither team looked like testing their opposite goalkeepers.
Wolves were limited Ipswich to set-pieces which were being dealt with comfortably, while the Old Gold were struggling to turn their possession into chances in the final third.
Despite being on top, Wolves went behind through a piece of calamitous defending. After Liam Delap got behind new skipper Nelson Semedo, he picked out Hutchinson who saw his shot cleared off the line by Doherty.
The rebound fell to Chaplin and although the shot was once again cleared off the line, this time by Toti, the ball inadvertently ricocheted off Doherty and slipped beyond a helpless Sam Johnstone.
After falling behind, all of the chances in the rest of the half were at the other end of the pitch, as Wolves tried their hardest to get their team level, with the best falling to Jean-Ricner Bellegarde who was slipped in by Mario Lemina and found himself one-on-one with Arijanet Muric, only to fire high over the crossbar and into the North Bank.
The ball just wouldn’t fall for Wolves, and Cunha’s low cross was flicked on by Strand Larsen to Lemina, but the midfielder saw the ball diverted off his toe as he lined up a shot from six yards out.
Muric was then able to make a save to deny Strand Larsen after the Norwegian was slipped through by Rayan Ait-Nouri, but the striker was unable to connect cleanly with his weaker left foot and his shot was straight at the Ipswich keeper.
Just before half-time, Ait-Nouri was involved in a coming together with Wes Burns as the two squared up to each other and the Algerian appeared to touch the Ipswich winger’s face, but both players just received a word by referee Simon Hooper. A minute later, Ait-Nouri did find himself in the book for a cynical clip on Burns in the centre of the pitch.
**Half-time | Wolves 0-1 Ipswich**
Ipswich came out of the break the stronger of the two teams, with Johnstone having to pull off a good diving save to deny Burns, before the keeper had to be quick off his line to stop Delap from reaching a dangerous through pass.
The visitors could – and possibly should – have made it two when Burns got in behind Ait-Nouri and found Delap with a cross, but the ball cannoned off the knee of the striker before missing wide of the post.
But the Old Gold weathered the storm and started to assert dominance over their opponent, and got themselves level just after 70 minutes. Goncalo Guedes, who produced an impressive performance after coming off the bench, was found by Lemina to slip the ball in behind for Cunha who fired home from a right angle.
Strand Larsen could have put Wolves ahead when he found space inside the box, but his powerful shot was deflected over the crossbar, before testing Muric moments later with a flicked effort from a Cunha cross, but the Ipswich keeper turned the ball behind.
Cunha’s shot from distance was almost bundled into his own net by Muric, but he was able to recover, before Strand Larsen reached another Guedes cross, but, on the stetch, could only send the ball the wrong side of the post.
Tommy Doyle, who replaced Andre at the break, spurned two chances from distance, while Cunha was also denied by Muric late on before hitting the rebound high into the South Bank.
But with the last kick of the game, it was heartbreak for the hosts. After conceding a corner, the ball was floated to the far post by Jack Clarke, and Taylor was left unmarked in the box to head past Johnstone and secure all points for Ipswich.
**Full-time | Wolves 1-2 Ipswich**
**Wolves |** Johnstone, Doherty (Guedes 64), Semedo, Bueno, Toti, Ait-Nouri, Andre (Doyle 45), Lemina, Bellegarde (Hwang 72), Cunha, Strand Larsen.
**Unused** **subs** | Bentley, Dawson, Meupiyou, Lima, R. Gomes, Forbs.
**Ipswich** | Muric, H. Clarke, O’Shea, Burgess, Davis, Morsy, Cajuste (J. Clarke 75), Burns (Johnson 84), Chaplin (Taylor 75), Hutchinson, Delap (Al-Hamadi 84).
**Unused subs** | Walton, Woolfenden, Townsend, Phillips, Broadhead.
**Referee** | Simon Hooper