Two goals in three minutes from wanted man Jorgen Strand Larsen completed a stirring Wolves comeback as they beat West Ham 3-2 in the Carabao Cup second round.

The Norwegian striker, a transfer target for Newcastle, stepped off the bench to provide a pair of unstoppable finishes eight and six minutes from time to get Molineux rocking.

Wolves led at half-time thanks to Rodrigo Gomes squeezing in a rebound after Hwang Hee-chan’s 43rd-minute penalty had cannoned back off the inside of a post but close-range headers from right-wing deliveries got the Hammers back on track.

Tomas Soucek powered down inside the far post from a swirling Kyle Walker-Peters ball five minutes into the second half, with West Ham soaking up some pressure before moving in front in the 63rd minute, Jarrod Bowen arrowing in service from the right touchline for the unmarked Lucas Paqueta to nod inside the exposed Sam Johnstone’s near post.

However, home boss Vitor Pereira, who had made no fewer than eight changes to his starting line-up, threw on the cavalry with 17 minutes to go, adding punch to the pressure that Wolves had been building, with Strand Larsen the hero.

Hugo Bueno cut back to the edge of the box and while Andre’s powerful low hit came back off Alphonse Areola’s leg, Strand Larsen was there to guide into the roof of the net in the 82nd minute.

And the crowd were still on their feet when the turnaround was completed, a one-two between Jhon Arias and Strand Larsen seeing the former’s shot blocked by Areola’s leg with the rebound quickly put back into the mixer from the right by Jackson Tchatchoua for Strand Larsen to power home through the crowd.

It was a tame start between two out-of-form sides and it took 25 minutes for the first meaningful effort to arrive, Bowen taking a lifted ball with his back to goal and holding off Santiago Bueno to lay off for Soucek, whose hard low shot was repelled by Johnstone.

Paqueta then dinked through Bowen on the spin but his shot under pressure from the right of the box was dealt with comfortably enough by Johnstone at the near post.

The Wolves breakthrough arrived after Arias rolled into Jean-Ricner Bellegarde who was tripped by the late-arriving Guido Rodriguez in the left of the box with Gomes alive to the ricochet after the spot-kick hit the frame of the goal.

West Ham had a decent chance to level as the clock hit 45, James Ward-Prowse swinging in from the right but Paqueta’s glanced header on the move flew marginally past the far post.

The Hammers did restore parity into the second half, Walker-Peters bending in for the perfectly-placed Soucek.

Wolves pressed but failed to convince before Bowen found a piece of brilliance, flashing in a fierce inswinger from the right touchline which Paqueta buried but Wolves refused to lie down with pace down the sides eventually helping to overwhelm the visitors.