Express & Star

Spurs 1 Wolves 2 - Report

A goal in each half from Wolves’ midfield maestro Joao Gomes secured an impressive victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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Joao Gomes (Getty)

The Brazilian headed home his second ever Wolves goal – after notching on his debut last season – to give his side a deserved first half lead.

Wolves threw their advantage away within the opening minute of the second half when Dejan Kulusevski, but a devastating Pedro Neto counter-attack set up Gomes for his second and Wolves’ winner.

Two weeks after doing the league double over Chelsea, Wolves achieved that feat again against Spurs as they continue to go from strength to strength in the Premier League.

Analysis

Gary O’Neil made one change and stuck with the 5-2-3 formation.

Matheus Cunha, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury, was replaced by Hwang Hee-chan, who made his return from a calf strain.

Noha Lemina travelled with the squad but was not included in the team, while youngsters Tawanda Chirewa and Nathan Fraser made the bench.

Ange Postecoglou made four changes to his Spurs side, who started in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie missed out through injury, while Son Heung-min came back into the starting XI.

A frantic start to the game saw both teams have chances, with Pablo Sarabia having a shot saved for Wolves, while Richarlison wasted a good opening.

Within that opening spell, Wolves should have taken the lead when Hwang missed a sitter. A good shot from Nelson Semedo was saved by Guglielmo Vicario and Hwang blazed the follow-up over the bar from a matter of yards.

Wolves had made a good start to the contest and were being aggressive to win the ball back at the right moments, before springing swift attacks.

Spurs were still dangerous, however, and fired over from a dangerous Ben Davies drive. At the other end, Rayan Ait-Nouri's shot was saved at the end of a good Wolves attack.

The hosts were threatening with some set pieces, corners in particular, but Wolves stood their ground defensively.

A lovely pass from Toti Gomes released Hwang and as he stepped inside, he found Gomes, who then looked for Semedo – but Wolves overplayed the opportunity before Spurs cleared.

Kulusevski had a chance when James Maddison pulled the ball back to him inside the box, but he dragged his shot wide.

In the 42nd minute, Wolves got their reward. A Sarabia corner found a completely unmarked Gomes to head into the top corner, to cap off a remarkable half from the midfielder.

Before half-time, Sarabia had a couple chances to double Wolves’ lead, before they took a 1-0 advantage into the break.

Within the opening minute of the second half all of Wolves’ good work was undone when Spurs equalised. The ball fell to Kulusevski and he went beyond Craig Dawson too easily before slotting the ball between Jose Sa’s legs from a tight angle.

Following the goal, Wolves endured a poor spell lacking in tempo and aggression, as they consistently gave the ball away – but they were fortunate that Spurs did not take advantage of that spell and go up a gear themselves.

Wolves then had a major chance to score a goal of their own. A magnificent cross-field ball from Dawson found Semedo, who put in a perfect cross for Sarabia, but his first-time shot was saved by Vicario.

Sa was then called into action and his sublime save tipped the ball around the post following a Kulusevski shot.

In the 63rd minute Wolves regained the lead in style. From a Spurs corner, Gomes began the counter-attack by releasing Neto down the right. The winger carried the ball the full length of the pitch before pulling it back to Gomes to finish.

Wolves almost got a third when another counter-attack saw Neto find Jean-Ricner Bellegarde in the box, but after delaying his shot the chance was gone.

The visitors were defending deep as the game crept towards the 90th minute, as Spurs piled on the pressure. Davies had a huge chance with a free header from close range that he nodded wide.

But Wolves saw out the game to achieve another famous victory in a memorable season.

Key Moments

GOAL 42 Gomes leaps highest in the box to head home for Wolves

GOAL 46 Kulusevski drags Spurs level within the first minute of the second half

GOAL 63 Gomes’ second of the game puts Wolves back in front after a brilliant counter-attack

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Toti, Ait-Nouri, Lemina, Gomes, Sarabia (Bellegarde, 73), Hwang (Traore, 87), Neto (Doherty, 92).

Subs not used: Bentley, S.Bueno, H.Bueno, Doyle, Chirewa, Fraser.

Spurs: Vicario, Royal (Lo Celso, 85), Romero, van de Ven, Davies, Sarr (Bentancur, 71), Bissouma (Werner, 71), Maddison (Hojbjerg,, 85), Kulusevski, Richarlison (Johnson, 71), Son.

Subs not used: Austin, Dragusin, Skipp, Gil.