2-3 v Wolverhampton Wanderers - 1 March 2020 - Home

Tottenham Hotspur Badge

Spurs 2

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers

3

  • Doherty
    27'
  • Jota
    57'
  • Jiménez
    73'
Details
Match Number

7408

Opposition
Wolverhampton wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Competition
Premier League

Premier League

Season

2019/20

Date

1st March 2020

Kick Off

14:00

Venue

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Attendance

58,064

Referee

Stuart Attwell

VAR

Simon Hooper

League Position

7th

Opposition League Position

6th

Opposition Form

WDDLLW

Weather at Kick Off

9.1° - Drizzle

Facts & Milestones
  • 7372nd overall match (3527 wins, 1614 draws, 2218 losses)

  • 5775th competitive match (2612 wins, 1346 draws, 1817 losses)

  • team

    101st match vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (48 wins, 21 draws, 32 losses)

  • competition

    1066th Premier League match (457 wins, 264 draws, 345 losses)

  • 6727th match in England (3173 wins, 1502 draws, 2039 losses)

  • 28th match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (16 wins, 3 draws, 9 losses)

  • There were 4 changes to the starting lineup from the last match.

For STATS Against
13 Attempts 14
5 Attempts on Target 4
1.7 xG 2.6
65% Possession 35%
787 Touches 489
556 Passes Completed 264
668 Passes Attempted 359
83.2% Pass Completion 73.5%
22 Crosses 16
23 Throw-ins 19
4 Corners 5
12 Tackles 10
9 Blocks 9
6 Interceptions 17
12 Fouls 14
3 Yellow Cards 2
Report

Raul Jimenez scored a smart winner as Wolves recovered to move above Tottenham in the Premier League and boost their hopes of earning a Champions League spot.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side trailed twice in north London before Jimenez latched on to Diogo Jota's pass to finish with his left foot.

Spurs first led when Steven Bergwijn poked in and then from Serge Aurier's curling effort before the break.

But Matt Doherty and Jota combined to bring Wolves level on both occasions.

Jota's ball was fired home by Doherty after Spurs defender Japhet Tanganga failed to clear and then Jota tapped in from close range following Doherty's low cross.

Dele Alli had missed the chance to send Tottenham into a 3-1 lead moments earlier when he headed wide while unmarked inside the box.

The win sends Wolves sixth in the table and three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

Both of these sides harbour hopes of reaching the Champions League next season but it is Wolves who boast the better form and now also the better platform to do so.

The task of qualifying for Europe's premier competition could be made easier if Manchester City's continental ban is upheld and fifth place comes into play.

Wolves, who could also book a place through the Europa League, showed resilience to twice come from behind and were largely inspired by their two wide forwards - Jota and Adama Traore.

Jota is in superb form and had a hand in all three of Wolves' goals, with his pass sending Jimenez away to slot the winner beyond Paulo Gazzaniga 17 minutes from time.

The visitors, who are now level on points with Manchester United in fifth, had the phenomenal Traore to thank for bringing them level as he rode a heavy tackle by Tanganga to keep alive a move that ended with Doherty crossing for Jota to score from close range.

That was the Portugal international's sixth goal in his past three games in all competitions, all coming in the last 10 days.

Tottenham's striker crisis is well documented and home fans will have welcomed the news England captain Harry Kane's return from a hamstring injury appears ahead of schedule, but Jose Mourinho's side need a short-term solution if they are to keep their European hopes on track.

Spurs, with Son Heung-min also absent after surgery on a fractured arm, have struggled to find a focal point in attack recently and opted for a fluid front three of Bergwijn, Alli and Lucas Moura, though it was Aurier who proved their most penetrative threat.

It was from the Ivory Coast international's driven cross that Spurs took the lead, as Bergwijn pounced after Alli's initial effort was saved to score his second Tottenham goal since a January move from PSV.

Alli then found Aurier in space on the edge of the Wolves penalty area and the 27-year-old cut inside before curling left-footed effort into the far corner.

But it was at the other end Tottenham struggled, looking indecisive on occasions with both Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen on the bench, as they failed to stop Wolves' quick, attacking breaks.

Despite enjoying large spells of possession, Spurs failed to register a shot on target in the second half and Mourinho brought 18-year-old Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott on in added time.

His arrival earned a cheer from the home fans, but was too late to make a difference to the scoreline.

Mourinho has previously said Parrott, who had played five Premier League minutes before today, was "not ready" but the Portuguese must be hoping his young striker can prove him wrong in the coming weeks.

Spurs manager Jose Mourinho speaking to Match of the Day: "I think unfair. The players didn't deserve the defeat. We were punished by, I would say, mentality mistakes. You have to be ruthless against teams like Wolves that plays fantastically well on the counter-attack.

"We deserve much more than these results but this is what it is. [The front three] combined well, they did what they can. They did the plan that we worked on in the week. We had lots of arrivals in dangerous positions, but it is quite frustrating to see they don't have that feeling."

On leaving out Alderweireld and Vertonghen: "I think Eric Dier played very, very well, so when the player you bring in as a replacement plays very, very well the question could be why did you play Dier and not why did you leave out Toby and Jan.

"I tried to play with Davinson [Sanchez] and Tanganga, which are the two fastest players. Dier is because he is a midfield player, he has the possibility to come out with the ball and play as an extra midfield player. I thought they did very well apart from the goals, which are collective responsibility, not individual responsibility."

Tottenham punished for 'mentality mistakes' - Mourinho Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, also to Match of the Day: "It's amazing the energy levels that we put into the game. They recover very well. It's a challenge, and when you really embrace the challenge you give everything you have, and this is what we are doing.

"We should start the game better. Tottenham is such an amazing team and can create so many problems. The second half was much, much better, more organised, better pressing and the movements for the goal was good."

On beating his former manager: "It's nothing special, was a very, very tough game. I have huge admiration for Jose Mourinho, for me he is a reference."

Timeline
KO
HT

Diogo Jota

57'

Willy Boly

71'

Raúl Jiménez

73'

Leander Dendoncker

90'
FT
Location
League Table
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Liverpool
28 26 1 1 64 20 44 79
2
Manchester city
27 18 3 6 68 29 39 57
3
Leicester city
28 15 5 8 54 28 26 50
4
Chelsea
28 13 6 9 47 39 8 45
5
Manchester united
27 11 8 8 41 29 12 41
6
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
27 11 7 9 44 36 8 40
7
Sheffield united
27 10 10 7 29 25 4 40
8
Wolverhampton wanderers
27 9 12 6 38 32 6 39
9
Burnley
28 11 5 12 33 39 -6 38
10
Arsenal
27 8 13 6 39 36 3 37
11
Everton
27 10 6 11 36 41 -5 36
12
Crystal palace
28 9 9 10 25 32 -7 36
13
Southampton
28 10 4 14 35 51 -16 34
14
Newcastle united
28 8 8 12 24 41 -17 32
15
Brighton hove albion
28 6 10 12 32 40 -8 28
16
West ham united
28 7 6 15 35 49 -14 27
17
Watford
28 6 9 13 27 43 -16 27
18
Afc bournemouth
28 7 6 15 28 45 -17 27
19
Aston villa
27 7 4 16 34 52 -18 25
20
Norwich city
28 5 6 17 25 51 -26 21
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Liverpool
28 26 1 1 64 20 44 79
2
Manchester city
27 18 3 6 68 29 39 57
3
Leicester city
28 15 5 8 54 28 26 50
4
Chelsea
28 13 6 9 47 39 8 45
5
Manchester united
28 11 9 8 42 30 12 42
6
Wolverhampton wanderers
28 10 12 6 41 34 7 42
7
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
28 11 7 10 46 39 7 40
8
Sheffield united
27 10 10 7 29 25 4 40
9
Burnley
28 11 5 12 33 39 -6 38
10
Arsenal
27 8 13 6 39 36 3 37
11
Everton
28 10 7 11 37 42 -5 37
12
Crystal palace
28 9 9 10 25 32 -7 36
13
Southampton
28 10 4 14 35 51 -16 34
14
Newcastle united
28 8 8 12 24 41 -17 32
15
Brighton hove albion
28 6 10 12 32 40 -8 28
16
West ham united
28 7 6 15 35 49 -14 27
17
Watford
28 6 9 13 27 43 -16 27
18
Afc bournemouth
28 7 6 15 28 45 -17 27
19
Aston villa
27 7 4 16 34 52 -18 25
20
Norwich city
28 5 6 17 25 51 -26 21
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