Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Palhinha 90+5) Wolves 1 (S Bueno 54)
Wolves were denied their first win of the Premier League season in the most heartbreaking of circumstances as Tottenham Hotspur snatch a point in the last minute of their match in north London.
Vitor Pereira's men thought they were set to come away from the game with a much-needed victory thanks to Santiago Bueno’s finish 10 minutes into the second half, after the defender pounced first to a loose ball in the box following a corner.
But with the game moments from the final whistle, Tottenham claimed an equaliser as Joao Palhinha curled a short inside the far post from the edge of the Wolves box, denying what would have been a priceless three points for the visitors.
Pereira made just the one change from the side which overcame Everton in the Carabao Cup five days earlier, with Joao Gomes coming in for Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, which meant the visitors were playing a back four for the first time under the Portuguese in the Premier League.
And that decision looked like it proved to be the right one during a first half of football which the hosts were on top of, but the Wolves defence stood strong.
Sam Johnstone was preferred to Jose Sa in goal and the keeper was Wolves’ hero on 15 minutes when he made an incredible instinct stop to deny Mohammed Kudus from two yards out. Johnstone was able to tip the winger’s effort onto his crossbar from close-range.
Wolves were limited to efforts from outside the area, with Hee Chan Hwang and Jhon Arias – playing either side of forward Jorgen Strand Larsen – having shots which they were unable to get on target and test Guglielmo Vicario.
Spurs had the ball in the back of the net just before the half hour mark when Kudus was playing in on goal by a clever Lucas Bergvall pass and fired high past Johnstone, but the former West Ham United man was denied by the offside flag.
After almost claiming an assist, Bergvall came close to opening the scoring when he struck an acrobatic shot 12 yards out from goal but he couldn’t keep his effort from going over Johnstone’s crossbar, while Kudus pulled a good stop from Johnstone moments later.
With the final effort of the half, Wolves hit the woodwork themselves when Arias’ corner was flicked on at the near post by Strand Larsen, and Matt Doherty’s effort took a nick off the top of the bar on its way behind.
Half-time | Tottenham 0-0 Wolves
That was Doherty’s last piece of action on his return to Tottenham, as the defender was replaced at the break by Agbadou with Jackson Tchatchoua also coming on in place of Hwang as Pereira switched his side to a back five for the second half.
It was another switch which seemed to have paid off for Wolves as Santi Bueno, moved across to the right side of the back three put his side ahead just 10 minutes after the break.
Arias’ corner was only palmed back into the danger area by Vicario and the defender was first to the ball as he stretched out a leg to turn the ball home.
Santi Bueno was showing his quality at both ends of the pitch throughout the second half as he was clearing away everything which was coming into the Wolves box, as the visitors grew in confidence and could have had a second through another Bueno, as Hugo tested Vicario’s reflexes when he fired on goal from a Bellegarde pass.
Wolves were in complete control going into the final minutes of the contest, with Spurs limited to shots from distance. Home skipper Cristian Romero and Palhinha both fired harmlessly over from 25 yards out without troubling Johnstone.
The visiting side were pushing high up the pitch as they looked to see out the game and a first win of the season, but with a final Spurs chance, Pereira’s side had to settle for just the one.
Having not dealt with an initial cross into the box, the ball found its way back out to Palhinha on the edge of the penalty area and after taking a touch to control, his second saw him guide the ball inside the far post with Johnstone beaten at full stretch.
Full-time | Tottenham 1-1 Wolves
Tottenham | Vicario, Spence (Porro 62), Romero, van de Ven, Udogie (Tel 84), Bergvall (Sarr 78), Palhinha, Bentancur (Johnson 62), Kudus, Simons (Odobert 78), Richarlison.
Unused subs | Kinsky, Danso, Gray, Scarlett.
Wolves | Johnstone, Doherty (Agbadou 45), S Bueno, Krejci, H Bueno, Andre, J Gomes (Bellegarde 63), Munetsi, Arias (Toti 90), Hwang (Tchatchoua 45), Strand Larsen (Arokodare 84).
Unused subs | Sa, R Gomes, Wolfe, Lopez.
