Jørgen Strand Larsen, denied a £55m move to Newcastle at the end of the transfer window, remonstrated angrily with the home team’s coaching staff on the full-time whistle after he had been substituted late on as, for the second successive week, Wolves’ bid to get their season up and running was stymied by a late equaliser.

The Norway striker, recently back from an achilles injury, had just shot against a post, with Wolves leading through Bart Verbruggen’s own goal, as Brighton pushed for the leveller that duly arrived from Jan Paul van Hecke. Vítor Pereira, the Wolves head coach, had been dismissed just before the Premier League’s bottom side went ahead in the first half, when Marshall Munetsi’s volley rebounded off the bar, the goalkeeper and in.

Fabian Hürzeler’s side deserved a point for their second-half dominance but Wolves, after conceding in stoppage time to draw at Tottenham, had looked as if they were going to hang on for the first top-flight victory of the season. Strand Larsen looked Wolves’ best bet for a second goal and the home team were less able to get out from their low block with the slighter Jhon Arias leading the line.

As if trying to recover from another winless start was not a big enough peak to climb, letting in late levellers is turning hills into mountains. Wolves somehow recovered from a terrible start to last season, when they gained one point from eight games, to avoid relegation on the back of a near miraculous run of six successive league wins either side of Easter, Pereira having replaced Gary O’Neil in December. Asking them to do the same again without the goals and talent of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Aït-Nouri would be remarkable.

So playing to their strengths looks like a prerequisite. Again they displayed heart, determination and improved cohesion for large spells and can at least claim a three-match unbeaten run, including the Carabao Cup. But Strand Larsen’s goals and hold-up play are also a big part of their armoury. He was not looking sulky when, 14 minutes from time, Luís Miguel, Pereira’s assistant manager, replaced him with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde; he was incredulous.

After Van Hecke had thudded home his second Brighton goal and the final whistle was accompanied by boos from Wolves fans fed up with their talent being continuously diminished, Strand Larsen flicked aside offers of handshakes from the coaching staff. He went on to the pitch to acknowledge his teammates and applaud the fans, but his frustration at the tactical decision was palpable.

“When you don’t get the three points, you talk about the substitutions,” Luís Miguel said. “He has been coming back from injury and he’s still not 100%. It was a decision from Vítor and the technical staff.”

Brighton’s goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen after he scores an own goal against Wolves. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters

The game had exploded into life in the middle of the first half. Pereira was furious at Jarred Gillett’s decision not to award a free-kick when João Gomes was jostled by Carlos Baleba and then, after the referee cautioned Baleba for a clearer foul on Hugo Bueno, the red card was shown to the Wolves head coach for booting a spare ball off a cone at the officials’ dugout. Luís Miguel relayed his colleague’s apology.

The fire had been lit. When a long free-kick from Danny Welbeck was headed out only as far as Munetsi to the right of the penalty spot, he dispatched a veritable hammer of a shot goalwards. Although Verbruggen managed to tip the ball against the bar, it rebounded down and over the line off the goalkeeper’s glove.

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Arias side-footed over the bar from six yards after a superb counterattack led by Strand Larsen prompted the overlapping Hugo Bueno to cross low. Sam Johnstone saved superbly from Georginio Rutter but Wolves so nearly put the game to bed when Strand Larsen shot against a post.

Brighton, with their deeply impressive record at Molineux – they had won their four previous games here – and a good start to the season to boot, took charge in the second half.

Wolves felt the ball had already gone behind for a goal-kick when Jackson Tchatchoua nudged it on. From Yankuba Minteh’s short corner, Maxim De Cuyper crossed and, after Stefanos Tzimas got a slight flick-on, Van Hecke headed powerfully home to earn a point.

“It was a good performance but not a great performance,” Hürzeler said. “The most important thing is to show resilience and character and JP is a great role model for that.”