Spurs hunted down by Wolves
Written By: Robert Halter
Wolverhampton Wanderers ended 2018 looking for their first win against Tottenham Hotspur since a 1-0 result at Molineux in February 2010, prior to the encounter with the Lilywhites and Wolves at Wembley stadium. In the eighth minute, after neat play with Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, the ball was driven low past the left post from Heung-Min Son. After a loose ball by Raul Jimenez, he tried to make amends but instead gave away a free kick by hacking down Harry Kane, which was driven over the wall by Kieran Trippier, into the clutches of Rui Patricio, in the thirteenth minute. Ben Davies got shown a yellow card for a reckless challenge on Matt Doherty, and from Ivan Cavaleiro’s free kick on the right, a header by Ryan Bennett rose over the crossbar, in the seventeenth minute. But sixty seconds later, the Lilywhites broke forward and from a long ball by Trippier, charging through Son set up Alli, who bent the ball high over the top right corner. More intensity went into Spurs play, as first Doherty and then Cavaleiro could only head the ball onto Son, whose touch rebounded off Moussa Sissoko, and then Alli pulled the trigger for Eriksen, whose shot fired towards the top left corner before being acrobatically tipped over by Patricio. In the twentieth minute, Trippier laid the ball off to Kane, whose delivery into the box, was turned over by Conor Coady in front of Patricio’s waiving arms. In the build up to Spurs taking the lead, Cavaleiro was barged over by Harry Winks, and through an assist by Son, on the turn, Kane riffled a shot from outside the area, into the left side of the goal, in the twenty second minute, with a screamer. In the twenty ninth minute, Winks played the ball out wide to Son, who curled the ball high above the top left corner. Then Eriksen played through Son, who was blocked by Patricio, while one on one with the Wolves keeper. As Wolves trailed Spurs at half time, their first substitution was due through an injury to Adama Traore which saw him replaced with Helder Costa, in the fifty seventh minute before another Wolves switch of Joao Moutinho for Leander Dendoncker took place while the Lilywhites brought on Lucas Moura for Alli. But it was Wolves perseverance that finally paid off on seventy two minutes, when from Moutinho’s corner, a cushioned header by Willy Boly, flew into the bottom left corner of the net off the hand of Hugo Lloris, to level the score. In a dramatic turn around, Wolves went ahead in the eighty third minute, when a long ball by Moutinho was put across by Cavaleiro, and a low drive by Jimenez went through the legs of Toby Alderweireld, into the left hand side of the goal and as he pulled off his shirt to celebrate with the Wolves fans in the right section of the ground, he was booked for his exuberant celebration. A final Wolves change was made as Morgan Gibbs-White took the place of Cavaleiro. Spurs misery was complete in the eighty seventh minute, when a loose ball by Trippier was played on by Ruben Neves, and from a Doherty through ball, it set Costa free, who slid the ball past Lloris, into the bottom left corner of the net. In stoppage time, Jimenez linked up play with Doherty, whose cross was headed by Gibbs-White, into the clutches of Lloris, as Wolverhampton Wanderers recorded a significant 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur which moved them up to seventh place in the Premier League table, much to the satisfaction of their manager, Nuno Espirito Santo while for Mauricio Pochettino, it was his first defeat against a newly promoted side since taking charge of Tottenham Hotspur having been unbeaten in twenty seven such meetings previously.