A goal in each half from Harry Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg subjected Wolves to defeat in the capital. Nuno Espirito Santo’s men did enjoy a series of presentable chances against Tottenham Hotspur, but the home side’s clinical finishing was the difference in the penultimate away game of the season.
Kane opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time, after rounding Rui Patricio, and when Hojbjerg pounced on a rebound to score, the game was beyond the visitors. Wolves did threaten to make a contest of it, as Fabio Silva and Adama Traore both fired wide from good positions, but instead it was Spurs celebrating a first home win in fixtures between the two since 2010.
Nuno Espirito Santo has outlined the importance of the final three matches of the season, and fielded another youthful side in the capital, but was relieved to see Kane’s effort come back off the post with a chance out of nowhere from 25 yards out – an early reminder of the England captain’s danger.
Wolves’ own centre forward started lively too. First, his effort from a tight angle needed saving by Hugo Lloris, but his deflected strike, following a strong Traore run, took a nick on its way out. All Wolves’ threat was coming through the Spaniard, who charged through on 29 minutes and once again set up Silva, who dragged wide.
Spurs weren’t without their chances, however. First, Kane thought he’d opened the scoring when beating Patricio in the air, but Conor Coady was on hand to block his effort on the line, then, as the ball remained in play, the skipper readjusted to stop Giovani Lo Celso’s cross sneaking in at the near post.
However, having remained solid for the first 44 minutes of the half, Wolves were undone in the final minute, as Hojbjerg’s ball drifted through Coady and Romain Saiss, and Kane composed himself, held off his England teammate, before rounding Patricio and tucking the ball home.
Half-time | Tottenham 1-0 Wolves
Six minutes after the interval, Wolves had their chance to level, when Saiss was left free in the box, but headed straight at Lloris. At the other end, Tottenham could have moved the game out of sight, as Kane’s powerful strike was tipped onto the post brilliantly by Patricio, before Alli smashed the rebound against the woodwork too.
However, Spurs wouldn’t be so generous next time around. Son Heung-min squared for Gareth Bale, whose effort was parried by Patricio, and the ball fell for Hojbjerg, who made no mistake with the rebound.
Instantly after that setback, Wolves passed up two good chances to pull themselves back into contention. First, with a fine move, Morgan Gibbs-White was sent scampering down the right and picked out Silva, who snatched at his chance and missed the target. Then, after cutting inside on his left foot, Traore fired wide of Lloris’ near post.
With time running out, Nuno handed Theo Corbeanu a first-team debut and the Canadian international watched on as Joao Moutinho’s shot was deflected wide, and that was the final sighter Wolves would get, as they returned home empty handed.
Full-time | Tottenham 2-0 Wolves
Tottenham | Lloris, Tanganga, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Lo Celso (Winks 69), Alli (Ndombele 82), Bale (Sissoko 89), Son, Kane.
Unused subs | Hart, Doherty, Sanchez, Lamela, Bergwijn, Moura.
Wolves | Patricio, Hoever, Coady, Saiss, Semedo, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Vitinha (Jose 63), Gibbs-White (Neves 73), Traore, Silva (Corbeanu 83).
Unused subs | Ruddy, Ait-Nouri, Marcal, Boly, Kilman, Cundle.
