Wolves 1-0 Tottenham: Player ratings as late Adama Traore goal sinks Spurs
By Sean Walsh
Wolves' fight against relegation saw them claim another major scalp at Molineux, beating Tottenham 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Long-term Spurs target Adama Traore came off the bench to score a late winner on a day in which the visitors dominated the ball but failed to react to a swift change of momentum in the second half.
The first half-chance of the game fell Spurs' way when an Ivan Perisic cutback was met by Dejan Kulusevski, whose initial strike was blocked by Max Kilman, before Pedro Porro came thundering in and sliced the rebound wide.
A bright start for the visitors continued as Son Heung-min drifted over to the left channel, cutting inside and testing Jose Sa with a scorching strike from around 20 yards.
Kulusevski was next to try his luck with an almost identical shot to Son's from the same spot, with Sa stretching to tip it past the post.
Near the end of a stop-start first half, Son's deep free-kick was nodded towards goal by Perisic, but Sa threw up a hand to keep his header out.
With Wolves sleeping from a free-kick at the start of eight minutes of stoppage time, Harry Kane sent Son racing away into the 18-yard box, coming onto his right foot and somehow firing over - a late offside flag was the only thing that could spare his blushes.
Tottenham struck the bar just before the break, with Porro rattling the woodwork with a free-kick from the edge of the Wolves box.
Julen Lopetegui made two changes at half-time to try and reinvigorate his side, but Spurs came close to taking the lead soon after the interval, with Son's close-range strike being deflected onto the bar by Craig Dawson.
Wolves' first sight of goal didn't even see them register a shot, with Raul Jimenez's piercing cross through the box just evading the run of Nelson Semedo who was waiting for a tap-in.
The hosts were finally working their way through the gears though, with Jimenez forcing Fraser Forster into a flying save with a brilliant header.
For the first time in the second half, Sa was called into action when Kulusevski's cleverly dinked cross was flicked on by Clement Lenglet, but while it had some power behind it, the Portugal stopper was able to grasp it firmly.
Wolves again had their goalkeeper to thank when a deflected and looping shot from Porro threatened to drop into the net, with Sa once more denying Tottenham.
Forster twice kept out Ruben Neves before substitute Matheus Cunha couldn't keep a shot from the edge of the six-yard box on target as a gritty game entered its final 20 minutes.
Kane looked to have found some space in a crowded Wolves box when he was picked out with a lovely chipped through ball by Lucas Moura, only for the retreating Kilman to block his strike into the side-netting.
With under 10 minutes remaining, Wolves took the lead through Traore, who reacted quickest to fire home after Forster punched away a shot from Jimenez, crashing one in off the underside of the bar.
Jimenez had the ball in the net with stoppage time looming but had been flagged for offside, but it didn't matter as Wolves held on to secure the win.
Wolverhampton Wanderers player ratings
GK: Jose Sa - 8/10 - Made several important saves on a rather busy day.
RB: Nelson Semedo - 6/10 - Found it rather easy to nullify Son.
CB: Craig Dawson - 7/10 - Physical from the off and that helped in keeping Kane quiet.
CB: Max Kilman - 8/10 - Rolled his ankles twice and suffered a bloody nose, but it was for a good cause.
LB: Jonny - 5/10 - Tested a fair bit by Porro and Kulusevski.
CM: Ruben Neves - 6/10 - Kept his nerve in the midfield battle, particularly as a hard-fought second half went on.
CM: Mario Lemina - 5/10 - Aggressively man-marked Kane and dropped between the centre-backs before being hooked at the break.
CM: Matheus Nunes - 4/10 - Drifted further up the pitch but made no contribution.
RW: Pablo Sarabia - 4/10 - Failed to get involved on either flank.
CF: Diego Costa - 5/10 - Hooked with a knee injury in the first half.
LW: Pedro Neto - 5/10 - Looked lively and worked hard but was doubled up on by Porro and Romero before being withdrawn at half-time.
Substitutes
Raul Jimenez (28' for Costa) - 6/10 - Eventually caused the problems which saw Wolves win.
Adama Traore (46' for Neto) - 8/10
Nathan Collins (46' for Lemina) - 7/10
Joao Moutinho (67' for Nunes) - 6/10
Matheus Cunha (67' for Sarabia) - 6/10
Manager
Julen Lopetegui - 7/10 - Emptied his bench to make all five available substitutes, stumbling across a winning formula.
Tottenham Hotspur player ratings
GK: Fraser Forster - 7/10 - Kept Spurs in the game with some decent saves.
CB: Cristian Romero - 6/10 - Tottenham's most alert defender and easily their most reliable distributor from the back.
CB: Clement Lenglet - 5/10 - Spun like a washing machine a bit when the going got tough.
CB: Ben Davies - 5/10 - Similarly looked a bit soft when pressed.
RM: Pedro Porro - 6/10 - Another decent game for Porro where he had little support around him.
CM: Oliver Skipp - 5/10 - Couldn't maintain his early aggression all afternoon.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - 4/10 - Often went hiding and came up with theatrical turns of expression when the game was still going on.
LM: Ivan Perisic - 4/10 - Looking older and older by the week.
RF: Dejan Kulusevski - 6/10 - Tottenham's main creative source. Sacrificed for Lucas late on.
LF: Son Heung-min - 4/10 - Busy in the first half but so wasteful in the final third to Spurs' detriment.
CF: Harry Kane - 4/10 - Couldn't force his way into the game enough.
Substitutes
Lucas Moura (77' for Kulusevski) - N/A
Emerson Royal (81' for Porro) - N/A
Richarlison (85' for Davies) - N/A
Manager
Cristian Stellini - 3/10 - Changes were made far, far too late.