Super Eagles and Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Tolu Arokodare was amongst the goals in his side’s 3-4 loss to Chelsea in the EFL Cup last night.
The 24-year-old’s poor first touch led to Andrey Santos’ opener inside five minutes before Tyrique George and Willian Estevao made the score go up to three in the first half at the Molineux.
However, Arokodare made up for his error at the start of the second half, sending a shot into Filip Jorgensen’s bottom corner inside three minutes of the restart.
The former Genk striker was also heavily involved in Wolves’ second goal as David Møller Wolfe pulled another back for Vitor Pereira’s side.
He was withdrawn in the 81st minute, but pure drama ensued after he walked off. Liam Delap, who just returned after a spell on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury, was given his marching orders.
Jamie Gittens then scored his first goal for Chelsea in the 89th minute before David Møller Wolfe responded again two minutes later.
Arokodare is working towards full fitness
Wolves head coach Vitor Pereira revealed the Nigerian forward is getting up to speed after putting in the work in training, plus he was fired up even before the game, keen to score a goal.
“It’s normal because now he has more training with us,” the Portuguese tactician said in quotes revealed by the club’s official website.
“His fitness is better now than before, he understands what we need from him, and he is more connected with his teammates, and he is ready to help us.”
Despite his side’s poor first-half performance, the Wolves manager was pleased with the fighting spirit displayed in the second phase of the game, and urged them to replicate such amid their ongoing relegation battle in the Premier League.
“We must look for the second half and start from the second half. This is our team, and with our supporters, we can do it. We can change everything.
“When we changed in the second half, we had a lot of players with physicality, pushing and pressing and running and playing.
“We have these kinds of players, but we just need a win to get the confidence to move on.
“We can turn over this situation. I’m 100% sure that with a win, and with our supporters, playing in this way, we can do it.
“It means that they have the true spirit of a team. It means that they want to change things, they have quality and they can play, and they can compete. If we play as we played in the second half, we can compete with every team.
“[Against Fulham], we need to go there and to start with this spirit, to play with this confidence that we showed in the second half.”
“What a second half! In the first half, we conceded the first goal and after, when I looked at the team, the players were a bit lost, and we conceded a second goal and after a third goal.
“We changed a lot today, 11 players, we played with 11 players who have not been playing for a long time, so it means the connection and the rhythm for this kind of game is not easy.
“At half time, we spoke about it, and I said to them, it’s my responsibility, but I want to see my team, I want to see tactical organisation, and I want to see the spirit that we have as a team.
“In the second half, we won 3-1, and the goal that we conceded was a pity. And we had the chance to score two more goals, and we deserved it.
“I’m very happy – not with the result, of course – but with the spirit that we showed in the second half and with our supporters, because they were very important for us.
“We felt from outside, the energy that we need to compete and to change the situation.”
“We are in a bad moment, but the thing that gives me the confidence and the feeling that we can do it, we can change everything with a win, is the spirit of this team.
“The spirit that the team shows, even losing 3-0, it’s not easy for a team losing 3-0 in this situation, and showing in the second half the quality and the spirit and how they competed with Chelsea, pushing them to the last third, creating problems – scoring three goals is not easy.
“If we don’t have character, if you don’t have quality, then we cannot do it,” he concluded.
Wolves travel to Craven Cottage in two days to take on Fulham. Both sides have been in poor form over the last five games, unable to seal a win in any of those games.
