Tottenham 1 (Kulusevski 46) Wolves 2 (Gomes 42 & 63)
A Joao Gomes double, his first strikes of the season, saw Wolves chalk up their latest stunning victory on the road, as Gary O’Neil’s side produced the perfect away performance to see off Tottenham Hotspur.
A constant threat on the break, but it was from a set piece where Wolves opened the scoring in the capital. Gomes was left free in the Spurs box to meet Pablo Sarabia’s corner and guide into the top corner, rewarding an impressive opening 45.
Tottenham did level seconds after the break through Dejan Kulusevski, but it was Wolves, and particularly Gomes’ afternoon. Pedro Neto was the creator for the winner, incredibly once again, as he led the counter attacker and timed his pass to Gomes perfectly, allowing the Brazilian to fire home first time and earn Wolves the win.
Like against Chelsea a fortnight ago, Wolves’ game plan was clear – press high and rob the ball in dangerous areas, with Gomes in particular causing the hosts serious problems.
Much had been made of Hee Chan Hwang facing his countryman Heung-min Son following the Asian Cup pre-match and the Wolves man should have had the first say. Sarabia played in Nelson Semedo down the right and his stinging drive was palmed back into trouble by Guglielmo Vicario, but Hwang couldn’t sort his feet in time and blazed over the loose ball.
For Spurs, Richarlison and Ben Davies both missed the target from distance, while Rayan Ait-Nouri shot at the goalkeeper from the edge of the Spurs box. There was a number of promising positions Wolves got into without showing the killer instinct, but when Ait-Nouri’s dangerous cross was put behind for a corner, Tottenham had had enough warning signs.
Sarabia stood over the dead ball and whipped an in swinging towards Gomes, who’d been left completely unmarked out eight yards from goal, and the Brazilian rose to guide his header into the top corner and spark scenes of jubilation in the away end.
Sarabia then had a volley brilliantly turned away by Vicario, after latching on to Craig Dawson’s cross, and while the offside flag was up, the goalkeeper wasn’t to know.
Half-time | Tottenham 0-1 Wolves
As good as the first half was, the second stared disastrously and Spurs levelled instantly. Richarlison was a nuisance in the Wolves box and Kulusevski floated past Craig Dawson and squeezed the ball underneath Jose Sa to level things up.
However, the theme all afternoon was Wolves’ threat on the break and when Dawson played wide to Semedo, who returned the ball central to Sarabia, he hit it first time on the side foot, but it was too close to Vicario and Spurs were let off the hook.
Kulusevski was Tottenham’s big threat and his low effort brought the best out of Sa, as his fingertip save kept Wolves level and soon after their position was strengthened further. Like much of the season, Neto carried Wolves up the pitch down the right, chopped back and laid off for Gomes to thump home his second goal of the game first time.
Wolves were good value for their lead and now needed to show their resilience. They were happy to see James Maddison shoot over the near post, while Mario Lemina’s well-hit volley from a Dawson pass needed saving by Vicario.
Sa went on to deny Emerson Royal in the closing stages, while substitute Jean-Ricner Bellegarde took too many touches when looking to make it three on the break. The big chance for the hosts to level arrived in the fourth minute of added time, but Davies got his header all wrong and Wolves’ job was done. Another incredible win on the road.
Full-time | Tottenham 1-2 Wolves
Spurs | Vicario, Royal (Lo Celso 85), Romero, van de Ven, Davies, Bissouma (Werner 71), Sarr (Bentancur 71), Maddison (Hojbjerg 85), Son, Kulusevski, Richarlison (Johnson 71).
Unused subs | Austin, Skipp, Dragusin, Gil.
Wolves | Sa, Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Toti, Ait-Nouri, Lemina, Gomes, Sarabia (Bellegarde 73), Neto (Doherty 90), Hwang (Traore 88).
Unused subs | Bentley, H Bueno, S Bueno, Doyle, Chirewa, Fraser.
