Incredibly, Wolves overcame a late deficit to defeat Tottenham Hotspur at Molineux, thanks to goals from Pablo Sarabia and Mario Lemina.
Following Brennan Johnson’s early goal, the Old Gold were facing down the barrel of defeat, but as second-half injury time approached, Sarabia used his magic to control Matheus Cunha’s cross and hammered it home at the near post to tie the score.
At the very end, the Spaniard provided the assist by spotting Lemina’s surge into the Spurs area. The midfielder then finished the dramatic comeback for the Wolves by heading into the bottom corner.
A response to last weekend’s defeat was the target, but the Wolves were trailing after just three minutes of the early kick-off. A switch of play over to the Old Gold left was missed by Toti, and Dejan Kulusevski made use of Pedro Porro’s overlap, and the full-back’s drilled low cross found Johnson at the back post. After he’d got ahead of Nelson Semedo, the finish was a simple one for 1-0.
That goal didn’t define the half, however, and the Wolves actually had more of the ball without forcing an equalizer. Both full-backs were getting into dangerous areas without finding the desired final product, with Rayan Ait-Nouri running in on goal and shooting at Guglielmo Vicario.
The Spurs stopper had to be at his best soon after too, as Cunha slipped in Lemina, and his drilled effort needed turning behind for a corner. The midfielder, who netted on his last Molineux outing, then headed over an Ait-Nouri corner.
A Toti header late in the half, comfortably saved by Vicario, was Wolves’ final attempt before the break, while Ben Davies headed wide for Spurs as the first 45 came to an end.
Half-time: Wolves 0-1 Tottenham
A lack of intensity was evident in the hosts before the break, but they made up for it after without being able to find an early goal. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde shot over straight after the restart, before Cunha curled wide after good work by Toti and Ait-Nouri in the build-up.
The chances were coming, and they were falling to attacking players, but still, the equalizer didn’t arrive. Hee Chan Hwang snatched at his chance too, firing wide of the near post after Joao Gomes’ shot deflected into his path.
However, the quality, when it mattered, continued to desert the Wolves. When Cunha carried the ball forward and slipped in Lemina on the overlap, the midfielder had substitute Matt Doherty waiting for the tap-in in the middle, but the cross was behind the Irishman, and the Spurs were able to clear.
The next big chance fell to another substitute, Sasa Kalajdzic, as Gomes’ cross found him in space, but the Austrian got his header all wrong and was directed off target. At the other end, Son Heung-min had a shot blocked before Jose Sa tipped Giovani Lo Celso’s drive over the bar.
Instead, it was all about to kick into gear at the other end. Sarabia has found opportunities hard to come back, but his introduction changed the game, with Cunha picking out his run, and the Spaniard produced the perfect control to take it under his spell and slammed home at the near post to level things up.
Then, in the final minute of added time, he turned provider. Tommy Doyle showed the intensity that lacked for much of the game, playing the ball out to Sarabia, and he waited for the perfect moment to slip in Lemina, who was composed to guide into the bottom corner to lift the lid off Molineux. The most incredible end to the game at Molineux
Full-time: Wolves 2-1 Tottenham
Wolves: Sa, Semedo (Doherty 66), Kilman, Dawson, Toti, Ait-Nouri (Doyle 87), Lemina, Gomes (Sarabia 87), Bellegarde (Kalajdzic 73), Hwang, and Cunha.
Unused subs: Bentley, Jonny, H. Bueno, Traore, and Silva.
Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Dier, Davies, Royal, Hojbjerg, Bissouma (Lo Celso 75), Sarr (Bentancur 63), Johnson (Gill 75), Kulusevski, Son.
Unused subs: Forster, Skipp, Phillips, Veliz, Donley, and Dorrington.