The Joe Edwards debrief – Wolves 1 Tottenham 2

The manner of the loss – Jan Vertonghen scoring right at the death for Spurs – is disappointing.

However, if Nuno Espirito Santo’s side play as they did for the majority of this game in the long term, they will blow teams away.

Plenty to be proud of

Wolves, ultimately, came away with nothing and Vertonghen should not have been allowed a free header in added-on time, but there was a lot to admire about this display from Nuno’s charges.

Between the 20th minute and 90th minute, the hosts were dominant.

It was wave after wave of attack – Tottenham were just praying for a chance to catch their breath.

Adama Traore and Diogo Jota were tearing Vertonghen and Serge Aurier apart on the flanks, while Joao Moutinho put in another masterclass in the middle of the park.

The only surprise was that it took Wolves as long as it did to level the scores, when Traore lashed home from outside the box in the 67th minute.

And from there, they pushed forward even further.

There were no thoughts of settling for what they had.

Wolves almost got another as a glancing header from Romain Saiss forced a top-drawer save from Paulo Gazzaniga, with Jose Mourinho praising the Argentinian’s ‘magic hand’ after the game.

In the end, the desire to get another and win the game saw Wolves switch off at the back, allowing Vertonghen to clinch three points in a proper smash and grab for Spurs. However, if they continue to break forward with such speed and accuracy, plenty of teams will fall at their feet.

The fearlessness going forward is a sight to behold at times.

Terrific Traore

And the man who epitomised Wolves’ willingness to get up the pitch and continually ask questions of the Tottenham defence was Traore.

Vertonghen may have had the last laugh overall, but he was seeing stars for a while as the Spaniard raced past him at every turn down the right flank.

Surprisingly, Vertonghen was not actually booked for fouling Traore.

But, utterly unsurprisingly, three others went into the book for rash challenges on him, with Eric Dier, Toby Alderweireld and Harry Kane all guilty of hacking him down.

Nuno has called for referees to keep a close eye on Traore’s treatment and carry on handing out swift bookings to those who deliberately trip him – and rightly so, as the amount of fouls is getting ridiculous (24 different players cautioned for fouls on him).

Yes, the former Barcelona man is ever-so difficult to stop.

But cynically kicking him must not be something that becomes accepted, so, hopefully, referees stay firm. To Traore’s immense credit, he shrugged off the heavy tackles and came up with his first goal at Molineux.

What a strike it was too, leaving Gazzaniga with no chance of making the save and almost taking the net off.

The winger’s happiness was obvious as he sprinted over to the bench to celebrate with the coaching team.

Traore’s progress this campaign is nothing short of phenomenal.

Mourinho pointed out his prowess afterwards too, insisting him and Jota are ‘unstoppable trains’ on the wings.

At this stage of last season, it looked like – at £18million – Wolves had paid over the odds for him.

Now, he may even be worth treble that, so Traore cannot be praised enough for the turnaround he has had. There is nobody else like him. A unique, special talent.

More Moutinho magic

On the subject of top talents, Joao Moutinho cannot go by without a mention.

Despite playing 70 minutes on Thursday night, the 33-year-old covered pretty much every blade of glass against Tottenham.

Moutinho was constantly pressing the Spurs midfield, forcing them into mistakes and recovering possession.

Lucas Moura – who opened the scoring with a fierce strike in the eighth minute – looked to break forward on the counter in search of a second in the first half, and he is no slouch.

But Moutinho was having none of it, busting a gut to get back and making a perfectly-timed tackle to set Wolves off the other way.

Again, Mourinho praised him by saying the veteran and Ruben Neves are top players.

The latter grew into the game and was at the heart of plenty of Wolves attacks in the second period. The two of them are individually excellent, and such a cohesive unit.

Patricio’s kicking

One of the negatives was Rui Patricio’s distribution.

Issues with the Portuguese’s kicking have been on show in the past, of course, but this is the first time in a while it has had an obviously detrimental effect.

A poor clearance from him put Wolves on the back foot as Lucas grabbed the opener – although Patricio did keep out a Son Heung-min shot just beforehand.

Another flat ball out from the keeper should have punished too as Dier smashed the post after a neat one-two with Dele Alli.

Thankfully, Patricio’s kicking did not result in any more chances.

However, it was enough for Spurs to take advantage of.

Fingers crossed, it is much better against Norwich.

No subs made

It is perhaps more to do with how the game flowed more than anything else, but it is interesting to note that Wolves decided not to make any changes.

None of the players really deserved to come off but, in the same breath, the away side brought on Christian Eriksen and his corner was headed home by Vertonghen for the winner.

It is the second time in the last few weeks that Wolves have opted against any substitutions too, having stuck with the same XI for the full 90 in the 1-1 draw with Sheffield United.

A couple of additions in January, which in turn would make the bench stronger, would not go amiss.