Wolves manager Gary O’Neil lauded his team’s performance as “almost perfect” following Joao Gomes’ brace that secured victory against Tottenham, subsequently pushing Spurs out of the Premier League’s top four.
Just before halftime, the visitors took the lead when Gomes found himself unmarked eight yards from goal, rising powerfully to head home Pablo Sarabia’s corner from the right.
However, Tottenham swiftly equalized just 34 seconds into the second half. Wolves failed to clear a throw-in, allowing Dejan Kulusevski to bypass Craig Dawson and slot the ball past Jose Sa’s legs.
Despite Tottenham’s recent home comeback victories against Brentford and Brighton after conceding the opening goal, Kulusevski missed two opportunities to put them ahead this time. However, Sa made an outstanding save low to his left, while Nelson Semedo blocked another goal-bound effort to maintain the scoreline.
These missed chances proved crucial as Wolves capitalized on a quick counter-attack, with Pedro Neto setting up Gomes to side-foot home the decisive goal.
Although the hosts pressed for a late equalizer, Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies squandered late chances, allowing the visitors to hold on for the win.
“We were close to perfect,” said a delighted O’Neil. “I’m proud of the group. It’s a tough place to come and we deserved to win.
“We knew we could get Hwang [Hee-chan] and Pedro in behind and we thought we could play through the press. We pretty much envisaged it how we got it.
“But we were more than just counter-attacking and when we had the ball we caused them loads of problems and kept missing chances. I was a little bit frustrated that we weren’t more clinical but we kept going and kept threatening.”
Starting the day in fourth place, Spurs were surpassed by Aston Villa after their 2-1 victory over Fulham.
The outcome marked the end of Tottenham’s five-game winning streak at home in the league.
Wolves secured a double over Spurs, replicating their 2-1 victory at Molineux in November. The win briefly elevated Wolves to 10th place in the table, though they dropped back to 11th after Chelsea drew 1-1 against Manchester City in the late kick-off.
Spurs unable to produce another winning comeback
Spurs welcomed captain Son Heung-min back into their starting lineup for the first time since his participation in the Asian Cup with South Korea. His impact as a substitute in the previous match, setting up Brennan Johnson’s stoppage-time winner in the 2-1 victory over Brighton, made his inclusion anticipated.
Wolves also reintroduced their own South Korean player, Hwang, replacing the unfortunate Matheus Cunha. Cunha, who has scored nine Premier League goals this season, sustained a significant hamstring injury during the 2-0 defeat to Brentford and is expected to face an extended period on the sidelines.
Hwang had an opportunity to add to his tally of 10 league goals this season within five minutes of the match. Following Semedo’s shot, which was parried by Guglielmo Vicario, Hwang had a clear chance from six yards out but squandered the opportunity, firing over with the goal gaping.
Despite Spurs having scored in each of their previous 36 Premier League games, they struggled to find their rhythm in the first half, with visiting goalkeeper Sa not called into action to make a save.
Wolves took a deserved lead through Gomes, marking his first goal since his debut late winner in the 2-1 victory against Southampton on February 11, 2023, shortly after his £15m move from Brazilian side Flamengo.
The goal also highlighted Spurs’ defensive struggles, as they have only managed to keep one clean sheet in their last 16 Premier League matches, once again challenging the resilience of Postecoglou’s team.
This marked the eighth occasion in this campaign where Spurs conceded the opening goal. However, they had managed to turn the tide in four matches and secure draws in two of the previous seven instances.
Spurs needed to elevate their performance in the second half, and they quickly responded with Kulusevski’s goal. However, their failure to capitalize on further scoring opportunities proved costly. Additionally, a mistake from Yves Bissouma, 25 yards out from the Wolves goal, resulted in a counter-attack that led to Gomes’ decisive winning goal.
“Both goals conceded are disappointing from our point of view,” said Postecoglou. “We paid the price for not being as concentrated or disciplined in our football.
“It wasn’t through the lack of effort. We had them camped in their half and then they break and score the goal.
“You can’t keep coming from behind and doing that every week. We needed to be better in the first half.”