As the second half of the 2018/19 Premier League season kicked off, Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Wolverhampton Wanderers to Wembley.
Both teams have had a comparatively good campaign. Coming into this game, Spurs were sitting in second place with 45 points, six less than current league leaders Liverpool and one more than the defending champions Manchester City in third. Wolves, on the other hand, sat 11th with 26 points, the same distance from Chelsea in fourth and Burnley who were topping the relegation zone. That, in itself is a considerable success for a newly promoted side.
Team News
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino was without the services of several players for this clash. Midfielders Mousa Debele, Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama and defender Jan Vertonghen were all on the sidelines, while Dele Alli had to be assessed for his involvement to be decided on. The assessment was a positive one and the England international made the starting XI.
Hugo Lloris was in goal. Kieran Trippier on the right and Ben Davies on the left flanked the centre-back duo of Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez. Moussa Sissoko and Harry Winks sat deep in midfield with Christian Eriksen further up. Dele Alli and Son Heung-min supported Harry Kane upfront.
Nuno Espirito Santo in the Wolves dugout was still without forward Diogo Jota, while defenders Leander Dendocker and Kourtney Hause faced a late fitness test because of the illness which made them miss the Fulham clash mid-week.
As always, Rui Patricio stood between the posts. The back three consisted of Conor Coady, Willy Boly and Ryan Bennet. Dendocker played in centre midfield this time along with Ruben Neves, and the pair of them were flanked by wing-backs Matt Doherty and Jonny Castro. In attack, striker Raul Jimenez was helped by wingers Ivan Cavaleiro and Adama Traore.
The First Half
Spurs tried to impose their authority over the game straight away, but after just one half-hearted attack they found themselves hemmed in their own box as the visitors clearly showed they wouldn’t be bullied.
After four minutes, a clash between Dendocker and Sissoko left the Wolves midfielder lying on the ground in need of medical assistance, but he quickly returned to the fray.
It seemed to have been just the break in play which Spurs needed in order to compose themselves, and from that moment on they took control of possession. Minute eight was passing when Son tried his luck from range after a long and winding move and missed the target by an inch. Four minutes later, Jimenez sent a wayward backpass which was picked up by Kane, and he was forced to backtrack and bring the Spurs striker down 20 yards out. Trippier took the free-kick and hit the target, but Patricio was well positioned.
The visitors managed to hit back with 15 minutes gone. They shook Davies up hard twice in less than 60 seconds. Traore first gave the Spurs left-back trouble on the flank and requested a penalty as his cross caught Davies on the hand, and then Doherty brilliantly got past him and forced him into a late tackle which earned him a yellow card. From the ensuing free-kick Bennet missed the target with a header, and then Spurs charged forward.
Alli ruined some good work by his teammates with a hasty and inaccurate shot, before Patricio produced a fantastic save to prevent Eriksen from scoring what would have been a spectacular opener from range.
However, the excellent ‘keeper was unable to repeat the feat in the 22nd minute as Winks did some good work (possibly committed a foul but nothing given) in midfield to win the ball and Kane cut inside from the right to send a left-footed strike from 20 yards straight into the far top corner.
1-0.
Wolves tried to hit back within two minutes as Traore’s clever turn left Davies for dead and his pass released the run of Jimenez on the right, but the striker couldn’t get the ball across to the far post where two players in yellow shirts were looking to attack it.
Spurs then regained composure and held the ball, looking for a way through, and Son tried his luck from the same position from which Kane had scored, but his shot wasn’t as accurate.
When defending, Espirito Santo’s men took a different shape. Castro and Doherty would slot back to line up with the three defenders, and Traore fell slightly deeper to join Neves and Dendocker in midfield. Cavaleiro stood next to Jimenez as the first barrier in that highly defensive 5-3-2 formation. But as soon as a long pass found Jimenez and the striker held it up, everybody moved back into their default positions to form the 3-4-3 again.
Pochettino had a positional shift of his pwn prepared. Occasionally, Son would go over from the right flank to the left, Sissoko would go right, Alli would go from the left flank back to help Winks in the middle. Also, Eriksen and Alli switched their positions frequently.
Four minutes before the break, Traore escaped Alli down the middle and forced Eriksen into being the second name in referee Stuart Attwell’s book.
Wolves tried to get forward in numbers late in the half, and it left more space for Spurs’ pacey players to exploit, but neither team could make their efforts count.
The Second Half
Two minutes after the break, there was a scare for Pochettino as Trippier received a blow to the head and had to be looked at by the medical staff before he was allowed to continue.
For most of the contest, Wolves were trying to play through their opponents, but there was no sign of them managing it at any point. Spurs kept the spaces very tight and only their occasional mistakes gave the visitors a chance to get further up the pitch. Lloris was mostly untested.
One such moment gave Jimenez a chance to run at Alderweireld after 55 minutes, but the Belgian defender was simply too good for him to beat.
On the other hand, Spurs were in no hurry given they had the lead. They had the game where they wanted it – firmly under their control, and Espirito Santo was forced to act. He replaced the inefficient Traore with Helder Costa just before the hour-mark.
Five minutes later, Wolves could have made something happened with a quick counterattack through Cavaleiro, but the forward clumsily lost the ball to Sanchez as the last obstacle in front of Lloris. He ruined another potentially good moment with a poor shot after Costa pulled his team forward and involved him.
With 68 minutes gone, Lucas Moura replaced Alli for Spurs, while Joao Moutinho came on for Dendocker for the visitors.
In the next several minutes, Spurs had real problems getting across the halfway line. Wolves pressed them hard and conducted attack after attack with a sudden zest that caught the home side notably off guard. And in the 72nd minute, their effort paid off.
Moutinho took a corner from the right side and Boly jumped highest to hit a powerful header from seven or eight yards which Lloris wasn’t able to keep out.
1-1.
It was all or nothing now as everything changed for Spurs in a blink of an eye. They charged forward when on the ball and pressed hard when off, but they simply weren’t nearly as effective as the visitors had been earlier. Wolves weren’t relenting, and at that moment they looked the likelier team to bag a winner before the end.
Seeing his team struggle, Kane tried to change the flow of the game by diving under pressure from Castro, but the referee was close enough to see through his act and the England striker rightfully saw the yellow card raised against him.
Further punishment followed less than two minutes later. A seemingly harmless Wolves attack ensued, which saw Jimenez combine with Cavaleiro before slotting a trickling shot from 15 yards through a forest of legs, into the bottom corner and out of Lloris’ reach.
1-2.
It was no joke for Pochettino’s men. They started showing frustration with every move and Eriksen was lucky to escape a second booking following a dive inside the penalty box, but as had been the case with Kane earlier, punishment arrived immediately at the other end.
Wolves acted quickly as Doherty released the run of Costa in behind and the substitute winger was off, charging towards Lloris before he slotted past him to add insult to injury.
1-3.
It’s fair to say that Spurs completely fell apart at the end. Their attacks were utterly harmless, and they can consider themselves lucky that their opponents were too relaxed in a few situations, or their defeat could have been heavier. Even the five minutes of injury time seemed to benefit the visitors more, but the score didn’t change.
The Afterthought
This result will certainly be hard to take for Mauricio Pochettino, and the Spurs boss will now need to take a good long look at what went wrong with his team in this game. They had everything under control for a very long time, three points seemed to be in the bag as they had the lead and were being almost unchallenged at the back. But everything fell apart as soon as the opposition raised their game a level.
They’ve given Liverpool a chance to go further away in the table if they beat Arsenal at Anfield later in the day, as well as Manchester City a chance to go above them again.
Meanwhile, Nuno Espirito Santo will be delighted as his team continues to carry the title of the surprise of the season. Their heroic effort on this day, similar to what Crystal Palace did the week before at the Etihad, will serve as inspiration to the so-called ‘lesser teams’ by making it very clear that every game offers three points to be won, but they need to go for them.
With 29 points, Wolves now sit in seventh place, going above Leicester, Watford and Everton who have all failed to win their respective games in this round.
Match Report
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: Lloris 6, Alderweireld 7, Sanchez 7, Trippier 6.5, Davies 5.5, Sissoko 7, Winks 6, Eriksen 7.5, Alli 7 (68′ Moura 6), Son 6.5, Kane 7.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS: Patricio 7, Coady 7, Boly 7.5, Bennet 7, Dendocker 7 (68′ Moutinho 7.5), Neves 7, Doherty 7, Castro 7.5, Cavaleiro 6.5 (85′ Gibbs-White N/A), Traore 6 (59′ Costa 7.5), Jimenez 7.
GOALS: Kane 22′, Boly 72, Jimenez 83′, Costa 87′.
YELLOW CARDS: Davies 16′, Eriksen 42′, Castro 81′, Kane 82′, Jimenez 84′.
REFEREE: Stuart Attwell.
DATE & VENUE: December 29, 2018, Wembley Stadium, London.
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
