Match report: Tottenham 1-1 Wolves
Joao Palhinha's reaction
I’m not happy at all to be honest, because that’s a game we need to win, especially when we play at home. We lost our patience in the second half and tried to do everything too quickly.
It’s a game for us to analyse and make sure we improve. Wolves played well but these games should be a mandatory win for us.
“Heartfelt ‘Amens’ rise from the eel-and-mash parlours of East London as West Ham fans endorse your relegation predictions,” says Charles Antaki. “And of course Nuno will help.”
They’ve only played five games and a lot of otherwise sensible people think they’re doomed. Football is truly, madly, deeply gone into head. Enzo Maresca is under pressure now; it’s only 76 days since they became world champions!
This knee-jerk nonsense shames us all. Okay, most of us.
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Full time: Spurs 1-1 Wolves
Wolves have their first Premier League point of the season – but it really should have been three. They led deservedly through Santiago Bueno’s first gooal for the club when Joao Palhinha equalised dramatically in the fourth minute of added time.
Spurs were poor, particularly in the second half, but will take some consolation from their ability to draw ugly. The point moves them above Sunderland and into third placee.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 5 | 15 |
| 2 | Crystal Palace | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | 7 | 11 |
| 4 | Sunderland | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| 5 | AFC Bournemouth | 6 | 1 | 11 |
| 6 | Man City | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 5 | 8 | 10 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| 9 | Fulham | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| 10 | Brighton | 6 | 0 | 8 |
| 11 | Leeds | 6 | -3 | 8 |
| 12 | Everton | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 13 | Brentford | 6 | -2 | 7 |
| 14 | Man Utd | 6 | -4 | 7 |
| 15 | Newcastle | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 16 | Nottm Forest | 6 | -5 | 5 |
| 17 | Burnley | 6 | -7 | 4 |
| 18 | Aston Villa | 5 | -4 | 3 |
| 19 | West Ham | 5 | -8 | 3 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 6 | -9 | 1 |
Joao Palhinha’s biggest strength is winning the ball but he knows how to treat it as well. Tel’s cross from the left was touched off deftly by Sarr towards the lurking Palhinha on the edge of the area. He opened his body to sidefoot a superb half-volley that fizzed past Johnstone and into the far corner.
Beautiful technique from Palhinha, who had his shirt off in celebration almost before the ball hit the back of the net; he’s booked for that, not that he’ll care.
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GOAL! Spurs 1-1 Wolves (Palhinha 90+4)
Joao Palhinha earns Spurs a point with a superb goal!
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90+3 min “After the first bunch of games, I thought that Wolves were probably favorites for relegation this season,” writes Kári Tulinius. “They didn’t look hopeless, exactly, but definitely hapless, which might be worse. But they’ve put in a disciplined and intelligent performance today. I honestly have no idea who’s going down this year.”
If I had to put the farm on it, I think it might be the three promoted clubs again. I hope not obviously, and had you asked me this morning I’d have said Brentford and not Leeds.
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90 min A needless foul by Sarr on Bellegarde allows Wolves to eat up another 30 seconds. There will be five minutes of added time.
This scoreline doesn’t flatter Wolves. They were competitive in the first half and have dominated the second.
89 min The substitute Tolu stays down for a bit after a strong but fair challenge from Romero. He’s on his feet now.
86 min Pedro Porro’s cross goes straight into the arms of Johnstone. His stunning save from Kudus felt like the first action of a busy night; in fact he hasn’t had a difficult save to make since then.
84 min: Spurs substitution Mathys Tel for Destiny Ugodie.
84 min: Wolves substitution Tolu Arokodare replaces the impressive Jorgen Strand Larsen.
83 min Palhinha, 30 yards from goal, repeats Romero’s error. Spurs heads are not as cool as they might be right now.
82 min Romero takes matters into his own hands by having a popo from 30 yards. Goalkick to Wolves.
79 min It’s worth nothing that Jhon Arias, signed from Fluminense in the summer, has been excellent for Wolves tonight. Bueno and Bueno or not, they look far too good to go down.
78 min: Double substitution for Spurs Wilson Odobert and Pape Sarr replace Lucas Bergvall and a frustrated Xavi Simons.
76 min The natives are restless. There were affronted jeers after that half chance for Hugo Bueno a couple of minutes ago.
74 min Bellegarde goes on a superb run before finding Arias. He eases a pass towards the overlapping Hugo Bueno, whose low shot on the run is kicked away by Vicario. Almost a goal for both Buenos.
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71 min It’s nights like these that Spurs miss the wit and subtlety of Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison. They were the better team in the first half but Wolves have dominated the second.
68 min Spurs are getting frustrated by the ease with which Wolves are keeping them at arm’s length. It almost gets worse for them when Bellegarde fights off Bergvall in the area and has a shot deflected wide off Romero. The referee gives a goalkick but I’m pretty sure that hit Romero.
65 min Bergvall is booked for an inept tackle on Bellegarde.
63 min: Wolves substitution Joao Gomes, who doesn’t look thrilled to be leaving the field, is replaced by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
63 min: Double substitution for Spurs Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson replace Djed Spence and Rodrigo Bentancur.
60 min Simons surges promisingly into the area but is forced wide by Santiago Bueno, who stays on his feet until the time is just right for him to make a good sliding tackle.
58 min Thomas Frank is preparing a substitution or five. Spurs have struggled since half-time.
GOAL! Spurs 0-1 Wolves (S Bueno 54)
Arias’s outswinging corner from the right was headed across goal, I think by Strand Larsen, and saved by the diving Vicario. But he could only push the ball against Palhinha and Santiago Bueno gobbled up the rebound from six yards. It’s his first Wolves goal.
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54 min A nice cross from the substitute Tchatchoua is headed behind by Bentancur. Arias takes the resulting corner… and it leads to a goal!
53 min Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson, two of Spurs’ better attacking options on the bench, have been sent out to warm up.
50 min A quiet start to the second half. The atmosphere has been quiet flat all night.
46 min Back under way in north London. Wolves have made a double half-time substitution: Emmanuel Agbadou and Jackson Tchatchoua replace Matt Doherty and Hwang Hee-chan. I think that means a switch to a back five.
Half-time reading
Half time: Spurs 0-0 Wolves
A frustrating half for Spurs, who dominated without creating too many clear chances. The closest they came to scoring was when Mohammed Kudus’s header was touched onto the bar by Sam Johnstone; it was an outstanding reaction save.
45+4 min: Doherty hits the post!
A Wolves corner is headed on and reaches Doherty beyond the far post. He leans back and sidefoots a half-volley that hits the outside of the near post! Tough chance.
45+3 min Arias breaks dangerously for Wolves, slipping Bentancur before moving into space, but Udogie comes across to make an important tackle just outside the area.
45+1 min Kudus’s outside-of-the-boot cross nicks off Andre and just evades the stretching Richarlison at the far post. Had he made contact he would probably have scored because Johnstone didn’t have time to get across his line.
44 min I thought Munetsi fouled Palhinha when I first saw it. The replays aren’t totally conclusive, and there is also the possibility that any contact was outside the area. I’d like to see a few more replays though.
43 min Kudus’s shot is beaten away by Johnstone with the ball bouncing towards the edge of the area. Munetsi doesn’t see Palhinha on his blindside and seems to kick him in the chest. Palhinha goes down but the referee says no penalty; it’ll be checked by your friend in Stockley Park.
The original decision is upheld: no penalty.
43 min “I enjoy watching Wolves play and only wish them the best,” says Peter Oh. “They may be in the relegation zone at the moment, but with a Bueno and another Bueno on the pitch, they are certainly two ‘good’ to go down!”
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41 min Kudus’s cross from the right is scissor-kicked over the bar by Bergvall, 12 yards out. Nice effort but well off target.
40 min Simons is tripped by Joao Gomes, who becomes the last player to receive a yellow card. That one looked a bit harsh.
38 min Arias bullets a shot over the bar from the edge of the area. Wolves have come back into the game in the last few minutes.
38 min Munetsi is holding his shoulder after landing awkwardly. He’s in a fair bit of pain but looks okay to continue.
35 min And now Doherty is booked for tripping Udogie.
32 min Simons is booked for a lunging tackle on Munetsi.
30 min A flying near-post header from Richarlison (I think) is well blocked by Krejci.
30 min A couple of corners in quick succession for Spurs. Nothing happens with either but for the first time it feels like a goal is coming.
27 min: Disallowed goal Spurs are taking control of the game slowly but surely. They thought they’d scored a moment ago when Kudus finished emphatically from Bergvall’s backflick, only for the flag to go up for offside. It was a simple decision for the assistant.
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23 min Udogie’s pass is half blocked by a Wolves player and spins kindly towards Bergvall in the area. He fresh-airs an attempted volley and the danger passes.
21 min Spurs appeal for a penalty when Andre boots a cross straight into the face of his teammate Santiago Bueno. That’s not handball, lads.
19 min Spurs are starting to enjoy more possession, though that Kudus header remains their only chance of not.
15 min: Kudus hits the bar!
Simons cuts inside from the left and curls a wicked ball to the far post. It evades the falling Richarlison and bounces up towards Kudus, whose powerful close-range header is fingertipped onto the bar by Johnstone. That’s a marvellous reflex save.
13 min That Spurs lorner leads to another, which leads to a Wolves throw-in on the far side.
12 min The Spurs crowd appeal for a penalty when Udogie’s cross hits the arm of Doherty in the area. It was tight to his body to a corner is all Spurs will get.
9 min Possession percentages so far: Spurs 38-62 Wolves. That sums up a really confident start by Wolves.
6 min Wolves have made an excellent start. Munetsi raids down the left this time and flips a good cross that ricochets around the Spurs area before being cleared.
4 min Hwang does well to win a corner on the left for Wolves. Arias’s fast, flat corner is headed dangerously across goal and booted away at the far post.
1 min Peep peep! Spurs kick off left to right as we watch.
Here come the players. It’s an important night for Wolves, who are currently pointless after five Premier League games. Truly, they’re better than that.
Today's Premier League results
Sunderland have continued their brilliant start to the season with a 1-0 win at the City Ground. Omar Alderete scored the only goal to move Sunderland up to third in the table.
Brentford 3-1 Man Utd
Chelsea 1-3 Brighton
Crystal Palace 2-1 Liverpool
Leeds 2-2 Bournemouth
Man City 5-1 Burnley
Nottm Forest 0-1 Sunderland
Team news
Two changes for Spurs from the side that started last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Brighton: Djed Spence and Xavi Simons are preferred to Pedro Porro and Wilson Odobert.
Wolves bring in Joao Gomes for Jean-Ricner Bellegarde. That’s the only change from the XI that beat Everton in the Carabao Cup.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3) Vicario; Spence, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie; Bergvall, Joao Palhinha, Bentancur; Kudus, Richarlison, Simons.
Subs: Kinsky, Danso, Tel, Gray, Johnson, Porro, Odobert, Sarr, Scarlett.
Wolves (4-3-3) Johnstone; Doherty, S Bueno, Krejci, H Bueno; Munetsi, Andre, Joao Gomes; Arias, Strand Larsen, Hwang.
Subs: Jose Sa, Wolfe, Agbadou, Arokodare, Rodrigo Gomes, Toti Gomes, Bellegarde, Lopez, Tchatchoua.
Referee Michael Salisbury.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of Spurs v Wolves. Kick off is at 8pm and we’ll have the team news in a second.
