0-1 v Wolverhampton Wanderers - 10 February 2010 - Away

Tottenham Hotspur Badge

Spurs 0

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers

1

  • Jones
    27'
Details
Match Number

6803

Opposition
Wolverhampton wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Competition
Premier League

Premier League

Season

2009/10

Date

10th February 2010

Kick Off

19:45

Venue

Molineux

Attendance

27,992

Referee

Mark Clattenburg

League Position

6th

Opposition League Position

15th

Opposition Form

DLDLDD

Weather at Kick Off

-0.2° - Clear

Facts & Milestones
  • 6768th overall match (3205 wins, 1487 draws, 2063 losses)

  • 5228th competitive match (2321 wins, 1229 draws, 1678 losses)

  • team

    93rd match vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (44 wins, 19 draws, 30 losses)

  • competition

    684th Premier League match (249 wins, 181 draws, 254 losses)

  • 6222nd match in England (2894 wins, 1402 draws, 1913 losses)

  • 47th match at Molineux (15 wins, 8 draws, 24 losses)

  • Eiður Guðjohnsen: Debut
Report

Struggling Wolves completed a league double over Tottenham with a much-needed and deserved home win which lifts them out of the relegation zone.

Wolves' early endeavour was rewarded when Matt Jarvis's cross was side-footed home first time by David Jones.

Earlier, Niko Kranjcar had seen a glorious chance from 12 yards superbly saved by home keeper Marcus Hahnemann.

Wolves' lead was rarely troubled in the second half, with Wilson Palacios's late shot Spurs' only effort on target.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy testified to a shattered dressing room after Birmingham staged a late comeback to win last Sunday's West Midlands derby 2-1.

However, the spirit and determination McCarthy lauded in his struggling team during the defeat at St Andrews was again evident in abundance, justifying the manager's decision to make only one change to the side with debutant Adlene Guedioura replacing Michael Mancienne.

The French midfielder, on loan from Belgian club Charleroi, made a great start to his Wolves career, demonstrating grit and guile in equal measure: epitomising his side's performance.

In contrast, Tottenham were lacklustre and a shadow of the side that has spent much of this season aspiring to a top-four finish.

As a result of their draw with Aston Villa on Saturday, Spurs dropped out of the Champions League qualification places for the first time since Boxing Day, and after Manchester City's win over Bolton on Tuesday and the failure to earn points here they now find themselves sixth.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp made five changes to his side, including bringing in on-loan Eidur Gudjohnsen for his debut.

The Icelandic forward almost made the perfect start, threading a fantastic pass to Jermain Defoe, whose flick found Kranjcar through on goal but the Croat's shot from 12 yards was saved by Hahnemann.

It was a miss Spurs would be left to rue as just over five minutes later Wolves took a lead they subsequently protected with ease.

Jones found Matt Jarvis wide on the left and from the resultant cross, the midfielder ghosted into the box to side-foot home a first-time finish.

Home fans' cheers became jeers moments later when Jarvis tumbled under a challenge from Michael Dawson in the Spurs box, but referee Mark Clattenburg waved away Wolves' penalty appeals and booked Kevin Doyle for protesting.

Their discontent could have been further heightened had Hahnemann not reacted smartly to palm away a deflected David Bentley free-kick soon after.

Anything other than a half-time lead would have flattered Spurs contribution and unjustly failed to reward the home side's first-half commitment.

Wilson Palacios's introduction for the second half, in place of the ineffectual Jermaine Jenas was unsurprising as Redknapp sought to inject some authority into his side's midfield.

The change did nothing to solve Spurs' most obvious problem: a lack of width; inflicted upon them because of the continued absence of Aaron Lennon.

Spurs' other natural attacking outlet - for very different reasons - Peter Crouch began the match on the bench but it was no surprise to see him brought on 15 minutes into a second half that had seen little deviation to the Wolves-dominated first.

As a testimony to the limited impact of both of Spurs' second-half substitutions, Redknapp effected his third change with 20 minutes to go, introducing Luka Modric in place of Kranjcar.

However, it took until injury time for them to produce their first on-target effort of the half - a 20-yard drive from Palacios - as Wolves were able to comfortably hold them at arms length to secure their first top-flight double since the 1980-81 season.

Having lifted themselves out of the relegation zone - albeit by only a point - to 15th place, Wolves can now look to successive home games with Chelsea and Manchester United with greater optimism.

It may be only Spurs' second defeat in 13 matches but they have scored only three goals in 2010 and must get back to winning ways if they are to achieve their ultimate goal of a top four finish.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy: "After the weekend we needed a performance and a victory and we got it.

"Teamwork was the key. We've got a terrific team of lads and they've worked hard and deserved that victory.

"It's been proved this season that teams like us can get points off the big teams. We've got Chelsea and Manchester United coming up, who's to say we won't take points off them?"

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp: "I'm very disappointed. It was probably our worst performance of the season.

"We had loads of the ball and were camped in their half second half but never really threatened enough to score.

"They worked hard and closed us down and made it difficult for us and we never overcame that tonight."

Timeline
KO

David Jones

27'

Kevin Doyle

30'
HT

George Elokobi

68'
FT
Location
League Table
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Chelsea
25 18 4 3 60 20 40 58
2
Manchester united
25 18 2 5 61 20 41 56
3
Arsenal
25 15 4 6 60 30 30 49
4
Liverpool
25 13 5 7 43 26 17 44
5
Manchester city
24 12 8 4 47 32 15 44
6
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
25 12 7 6 45 25 20 43
7
Aston villa
24 11 8 5 31 18 13 41
8
Birmingham city
24 10 7 7 24 24 0 37
9
Fulham
26 9 7 10 30 28 2 34
10
Everton
24 8 8 8 33 35 -2 32
11
Stoke city
24 7 9 8 23 27 -4 30
12
Blackburn rovers
25 7 7 11 25 43 -18 28
13
Sunderland
25 6 8 11 32 42 -10 26
14
Wigan athletic
24 6 6 12 26 49 -23 24
15
Hull city
25 5 9 11 25 50 -25 24
16
Burnley
25 6 5 14 25 50 -25 23
17
Bolton wanderers
24 5 7 12 29 46 -17 22
18
West ham united
24 4 9 11 30 40 -10 21
19
Wolverhampton wanderers
24 5 6 13 20 42 -22 21
20
Portsmouth
25 4 4 17 20 42 -22 7
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Chelsea
26 18 4 4 61 22 39 58
2
Manchester united
26 18 3 5 62 21 41 57
3
Arsenal
26 16 4 6 61 30 31 52
4
Liverpool
26 13 5 8 43 27 16 44
5
Manchester city
24 12 8 4 47 32 15 44
6
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
26 12 7 7 45 26 19 43
7
Aston villa
25 11 9 5 32 19 13 42
8
Birmingham city
25 10 7 8 24 26 -2 37
9
Everton
25 9 8 8 35 36 -1 35
10
Fulham
26 9 7 10 30 28 2 34
11
Blackburn rovers
26 8 7 11 26 43 -17 31
12
Stoke city
24 7 9 8 23 27 -4 30
13
Sunderland
25 6 8 11 32 42 -10 26
14
West ham united
25 5 9 11 32 40 -8 24
15
Wolverhampton wanderers
25 6 6 13 21 42 -21 24
16
Wigan athletic
24 6 6 12 26 49 -23 24
17
Hull city
26 5 9 12 25 51 -26 24
18
Burnley
25 6 5 14 25 50 -25 23
19
Bolton wanderers
24 5 7 12 29 46 -17 22
20
Portsmouth
25 4 4 17 20 42 -22 7
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