Joao Palhinha’s pinpoint goal in stoppage time saved Tottenham Hotspur the blushes of an upset loss to Wolves at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday as the two sides drew 1-1 in North London.
MORE — Joao Palhinha, Thomas Frank reaction
Santiago Bueno’s second-half goal looked to put Wolves on track for a rare win, but they could not hold out for all three points in North London.
WATCH — Tottenham Hotspur vs Wolves full match replay
Spurs rise into third place with 11 points, while Wolves remain 20th after getting their first point of the Premier League season. They are three points off 17th-place Burnley.
Stretched Spurs tested ahead of Champions League league phase
Wolves were a determined foe on Saturday and could argue they deserved all three points for their away performance; They just ran into an otherworldly strike from an unexpected source as Joao Palhinha’s breathtaking, incisive hit gifted Spurs a point. But Tottenham Hotspur should’ve led at halftime and perhaps they should’ve had the game in bed by that break in play. Pape Sarr was good off the bench as was Pedro Porro, but you can’t help but look at the fixture list and the injury list and wonder if Spurs have the fuel to emerge from the Champions League league phase without sacrificing their Premier League table hopes. Yves Bissouma, Randal Kolo Muani, and Dominic Solanke should be back soon and Kota Takai and Radu Dragusin are close. Those are all good things should those players come along, but the absences of Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison for some time means that creative flair in the middle of the park will ask more of these moments from Palhinha and put a lot of miles on Xavi Simons and Lucas Bergvall. They can do it, but how much will they have left at the end of the run? (NM)
What’s next?
Spurs go to Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League on Tuesday, then visit Leeds United for a Premier League match at 7:30am ET Saturday.
Wolves get eight days between games, as a visit from Brighton & Hove Albion comes next at 9am Sunday, October 5.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Wolves final score: 1-1
Santiago Bueno 54', Joao Palhinha 90+4'
Spurs vs Wolves live updates — by Nick Mendola
Joao Palhinha goal (video) — Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Wolves
What an incredible finish in stoppage time!
Joao Palhinha spins a seeing-eye through traffic and inside the far post from just outside the 18!
More Spurs moves
And they are needed, as Wolves have had the best chance of the last few minutes.
Bergvall and Simons come out. Wilson Odobert and Pape Sarr enter the contest.
1-0 Wolves, 79'.
Subs for Spurs, Wolves
Pedro Porro replaces Djed Spence, while fellow Spurs playmaker Brennan Johnson enters the game for holding mid Rodrigo Bentancur.
Wolves replace yellow-carded Joao Gomes for Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
1-0 Wolves in the 64th minute.
Santiago Bueno goal (video) — Spurs 0-1 Wolves
It’s a set piece that opens the scoring, but the goal belongs to the visitors!
A corner kick is stung toward the front post, where Krejci (we think) turns a header on goal.
Guglielmo Vicario stoops to parry the ball but it goes off Joao Palhinha and Santiago Bueno stretches a leg to its limit and jabs the ball just beyond the reach of Spurs’ prone keeper.
Wolves sub
Emmanuel Agbadou for Matt Doherty, who was on a yellow card.
Jackson Tchatchoua also comes into the game for left wing Hee-chan Hwang, who had to deal with the buzzy Kudus in that first half.
Halftime — Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Good defending from Wolves, who have got stuck into a few tackles and raised Spurs’ ire.
Kudus had an offside goal set up by a clever Lucas Bergvall pass, and the Ghanaian also forced two saves out of Sam Johnstone.
Seven total shots between the two teams. Marshall Munetsi and Andre have impressed for the blue-clad visitors.
Spurs in control, just miss
A cross bounds to the back post, where Mohammed Kudus heads toward goal — pushed onto the bar by Sam Johnstone — before colliding with the post.
Kudus also took out Richarlison on his run to the post and both players are receiving treatment. Richarlison is holding the back of his head and will apparently be let right back into the game after a brief departure.
Tottenham Hotspur lineup
Vicario, Spence, Van de Ven, Romero, Udogie, Palhinha, Bentancur, Bergvall, Simons, Kudus, Richarlison
Wolves lineup
Johnstone, Doherty, S. Bueno, Krejci, H. Bueno, Andre, J. Gomes, Munetsi, Arias, Hwang, Strand Larsen
Tottenham Hotspur vs Wolves preview — by Andy Edwards
Spurs (3rd place, 10 points) fought back from 2-0 down to draw Brighton 2-2 at home last weekend, followed by a comfortable 3-0 victory over League One side Doncaster Rovers in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday. With Wolves, Leeds, Aston Villa and Everton up next on the fixture list, Frank will be hoping not only for four wins from four games before the international break but some serious progression toward developing a dominant style of play. Spurs will need every bit of it before they face Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle in four of five games after that.
Vitor Pereira’s job isn’t likely to be under threat anytime soon after he signed a new three-year contract just last week. That said, any sort of positive result will do at this point for Wolves (20th, 0 points). They took their first lead of the season last weekend when Ladislav Krejci scored his first goal (8th minute) since signing for the club this summer, but were 3-1 down at halftime as Leeds scored on exactly half of the shots they attempted in the game. Pereira made a triple change at halftime, to little avail.
Tottenham Hotspur team news, focus
OUT: Dominic Solanke (ankle), Randal Kolo Muani (thigh), Yves Bissouma (undisclosed), James Maddison (torn ACL - MORE), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), Radu Dragusin (knee) | QUESTIONABLE: Kota Takai (foot), Ben Davies (unspecified)
Wolves team news, focus
OUT: Leon Chiwone (knee), Enso Gonzalez (knee) | QUESTIONABLE: Andre (calf)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Wolves prediction
After rotating the squad heavily midweek and keeping a clean sheet without having to use Cristian Romero or Micky van de Ven, and scoring three goals without Mohammed Kudus in the squad, expect a quick (and aggressive) start from the home side. Spurs 3-1 Wolves.
