Spurs Score then Stand Firm to Deny Wolves and Make it Two in Two

Sunday 22nd August 2021

Match Report

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 – 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Venue: Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton

Competition: English Premier League

Much of the pre-match focus was on whether Harry Kane would start but he was only on the bench, as Nuno somewhat unsurprisingly went with the same line-up that saw off defending Champions Man City quite brilliantly on the opening weekend of the Premier League. Nuno's old side Wolves stood in the way of maintaining a 100% record.

Adama Traoré, a player heavily linked with a move to Spurs, started for a second consecutive match and so did their all-time Premier League top scorer, Raul Jiménez. The home crowd loved seeing their main man back in action in what was his first home appearance since sustaining a nasty fractured skull in November 2020. He donned a thick protective headband as an added precaution.

Wolves started brightly with the crowd inside Molineux helping them to step it up a gear. The strength and pace of Traoré and the movement of Jiménez caused all sorts of problems for the Spurs back line.

Particularly for Tanganga, who was off the back of a man of the match performance for his exceptional work against Sterling and Grealish. Traoré terrorised him early on, as Wolves threatened down the left flank again and again.

Though it was Spurs who made an early breakthrough against the run of play – Reguilón slotted through Alli, a good first touch took him around the outrushing Wolves goalkeeper, who couldn't stop himself from sliding into the outside of Dele's leg and bringing him to ground. There was an argument to be made that Dele was clever in the manner he left his leg in there anticipating the contact, but it was rash from José Sá and the ball was past him. Penalty, and the correct decision for me.

Having won it, and with our go-to taker sat on the bench, Alli stepped up to take the spot kick himself. He showed great composure, slotting it into the bottom right corner and sending the keeper the wrong way. 1-0 Spurs after ten minutes.

Moments later and academy prospect Oliver Skipp had a heart in mouth moment – a heavy touch towards his own goal on the edge of the penalty area gave a chance for speedy winger Nelson Semedo to get through on goal. The Wolves man got to the ball first but a slight nudge from the desperately recovering Skipp sent him crashing to ground. The referee was quick to wave away furious Wolves protests for a penalty and a quick VAR check confirmed it was to be a goal kick for Spurs. I feel that Spurs got away with one on that occasion. Skipp seemed to be another beneficiary of the new leniency laws bought into the Premier League this season.

Traoré continued to be the heartbeat of numerous Wolves attacks, but despite looking shaky on occasions, the Spurs defence managed to stand strong and keep the scoreline in their favour.

Despite relentless pressure from the home side Spurs remained a threat on the counter. Bergwijn beat the offside trap down the right side of the area, but his pass across goal was behind the incoming Alli. Wolves cleared quickly and embarked on a counter attack of their own, though it was brought to a swift end by a crunching Tanganga sliding tackle on Marçal which resulted in a yellow card for the Spurs man.

Minutes later and fellow academy graduate Skipp joined Tanganga in the book. In an attempt to stamp his authority on the game, he lunged in on Adama Traoré, which to be fair, seemed to be the only way of stopping the oiled-up speedster with the performance he was putting in.

Wolves continued to press deep into the five minutes of added time at the end of the first half, but again Spurs broke and had the last chance before the break with Tanganga firing a dangerous ball across the six yard box. Sadly no Spurs player was there to meet it and perhaps it was a sign that Spurs should introduce a certain Harry Kane at half time.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – Spurs have looked the lesser of the two sides so far. They'll be delighted to be heading into the dressing room a goal up though, and hopefully Nuno can inspire them to go out and secure the win in the second half."

No substitutions at the break but we started the second period in a more assured manner. Signs of improvement included Tanganga standing up Traoré forcing him to shoot and making a good block rather than diving in and being beaten as we saw on numerous occasions in the first half.

Suddenly Son was played in behind by a terrific through ball from Højbjerg. The South Korean bore down on goal from the right side of the area before attempting to cut inside a sliding Max Kilman. The Wolves defender came out on top though, knocking the ball out for a corner. Son was adamant he'd been tackled by an arm. A quick VAR check deemed the arm in a natural position – no penalty. Correct decision.

Then came Wolves' biggest chance of the match – Neves threaded a sublime ball behind the Spurs backline and into the path of Traoré who found himself one on one with Lloris in the centre of the penalty area. Fortunately it was the record breaking Spurs captain making his 300th appearance for the club who won this one – rushing out and getting down low to save Traoré's slotted effort with an outstretched left leg. A brilliant save in a potentially pivotal moment.

A Wolves goal began to look inevitable with Raul Jiménez coming close minutes later following a low cross aimed towards him at the near post. Spurs continued to stand firm.

However, as became the theme of the match, Spurs answered the onslaught by heading up the other end and catching Wolves on the counter again.

This time Lloris put Bergwijn directly in behind the Wolves defence with a beautifully shaped dropkick out to the left wing. The Dutch winger latched onto it and cut inside to shoot low across goal from the edge of the area. A good save by Sá sent the rebound into the path of Son who's shot ricocheted up and into the chest of the Wolves keeper before falling to Bergwijn once again who's shot cannoned off a Wolves defender and out for a throw in on the right side.

Then came the substitution everyone had been waiting for – 72nd minute and there stood Harry Kane, suited and booted in Spurs' new, rather striking cosmic away kit, sending the Spurs fans into raptures of "He's one of our own!" A heart-warming moment, as it put to bed any doubters who'd said the Spurs faithful would turn on him following his ongoing City transfer saga. It remains to be seen whether his future lies away from his boyhood club.

The only disappointment was that it was Son's number that went up. Many, including a visibly disappointed Son himself, would have enjoyed seeing the pair that formed such a lethal partnership last season alongside each other up top again. Fingers crossed we have another whole season of it ahead.

Wolves fans responded to the Kane chants with variations of "He's one of our own!" that suggested he was on his way out and the banter between the two sets of fans continued for the remainder of the match. It was another example of just how much we've missed having fans packed into the stadiums.

Wolves continued to press for an equaliser and came close again with a header just over the bar.

Kane looked determined to make his mark. It was clear he'd been working on his fitness despite his delayed return to Tottenham training. He looked sharp with a real spring in his step and demonstrated some solid hold up play with neat first touches and accurate passes.

He almost got himself on the scoresheet with ten to go following some skilful play down the left wing by Bergwijn – with a few quick touches right by the sideline he took three Wolves players out of the game before racing forward and sliding a short pass to Kane who'd made a clever run around the back of him. Kane latched onto the ball on the left corner of the six yard box but his side footed finish was from a tight angle and the outrushing Wolves goalkeeper saved well. The rebound fell to Bergwijn, who deserved a goal for his performance, but José Sá, who also had a good game in goal for Wolves, was there yet again to make the save and prevent Spurs from doubling their lead.

Wolves' last throw of the dice was bringing on Portuguese prospect Fabio Silva. He had one effort late on but failed to find the breakthrough they desperately needed.

It was end to end stuff right to the finish and in the last five minutes Kane found himself in possession on the edge of the box. He tried to work a shot before deciding to lay it to his right where he found Højbjerg who did brilliantly to work his way into the area with a cheeky nutmeg on a Wolves defender followed by a shot with the outside of his boot that was blocked well and deflected out for a corner.

Up the other end and Spurs were hanging on again. Winks came on for Bergwijn in added time for some extra protection for Lloris and his backline who continued to fiercely protect another precious clean sheet.

Much to the delight of the jeering Wolves fans Kane received a soft yellow card for supposedly time wasting when he opted to leave a throw in for Reguilón to take.

Spurs did their best to run down the clock for the remaining three minutes of stoppage time. Traoré had one last burrowing run at the Spurs defence but yet again they stood strong.

The final whistle blew for Full Time and Tottenham had done it again.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – Spurs hold on to win another three points. First away game, first away win for Nuno. Two games, two goals, two clean sheets, six points in the bag and all in all it's an excellent start to the campaign for Spurs and their new boss."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 8 – Excellent save to keep out Traoré when he was through one on one. Worked hard to keep a clean sheet on his 300th appearance for the club.

• 25. Japhet Tanganga – 5 – Struggled all afternoon with the pace and power of Traoré. Kept going though.

• 6. Davinson Sánchez – 6 – Showed a few lapses in concentration that allowed the likes of Jiménez and Traoré in behind. Did enough to keep the clean sheet.

• 15. Eric Dier – 6 – Was fortunate to see Lloris save after he was dispossessed by Neves that lead to Wolves' best chance of the match. Nervy at times but similar to Sánchez, just about did enough.

• 3. Sergio Reguilón – 7 – Full of running going forward and provided a threat on occasion. Left a lot of room for him to be exploited defensively though.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 7 – Helped protect the defence by grafting to make tackles and interceptions. Unlucky not to score towards the end.

• 29. Oliver Skipp – 7 – Helped out alongside Højbjerg. Did well on the whole.

• 20. Dele Alli – 8 – Good performance from Alli. Won a penalty, put it away himself and worked admirably throughout helping out in defence and attack.

• 27. Lucas Moura – 5 – One of Moura's games where he kept losing the ball. Failed to make an impact and was eventually subbed for Lo Celso.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 6 – Wasn't at his best and struggled to make things happen. Looked to be carrying a knock with the strapping on his left hamstring.

• 23. Steven Bergwijn – 7 – Another lively performance from Bergwijn but still has work to do in the final third.

Substitutions:

• 27. Lucas Moura <-- 67' --> 18. Giovani Lo Celso – 5 – Looked lacking in preparation for the season. Needs to get up to speed fast.

• 7. Son Heung-min <-- 72' --> 10. Harry Kane – 7 – Good to see him back and looked sharp. Would have been nice to see him hit the net.

• 23. Steven Bergwijn <-- 90+1' --> 8. Harry Winks – N/A – On as a late substitute.

Man of the Match – 20. Dele Alli