Is Dr. Tottenham in the house?
Tottenham Hotspur, hosting winless Wolverhampton Wanderers, looked as if they had handed Wolves their first points of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign in a messy affair, before a late goal from Joao Palhinha spared Spurs their blushes and rescued a point in what should have been a winnable match for Thomas Frank’s side. Frank named a strong side, with only two changes from the previous Premier League fixture against Brighton: Djed Spence and Xavi Simons came in for Wilson
Odobert and Pedro Porro, the Spaniard getting a well-deserved rest.
Both sides troubled the woodwork in a first half that was largely dominated by Spurs. After both Wolves and the Lilywhites struggled to impose themselves in the opening stanzas, Spurs were soon in control, playing most of the half in Wolves’ defensive third. Mohammed Kudus, who was excellent early on, should have made the net ripple as he headed a Xavi Simons cross goalwards but for an excellent save from Sam Johnstone, palming the ball onto the crossbar. Spurs alum Matt Doherty had a chance of his own, volleying a flick-on from a set piece only to hit the post just before the half-time whistle blew.
Kudus’ header wasn’t Spurs’ only chance of the half either. Lucas Bergvall found himself in space in the penalty area, only to swing his boot at thin air, before Kudus had the ball in the back of the net following a lovely one-two move with Bergvall down the right. The Ghanaian was clearly offside, and the linesman raised his flag accordingly, but it was a sign of what this Spurs side can offer going forward. Spurs also had a penalty shout: Joao Palhinha went down after receiving a boot to the ribs from Marshall Munetsi, but VAR determined the contact was too inconsequential to award a spot kick and both sides went to the break goalless, with Spurs later regretting their profligacy in attack.
Wolves looked to create some impetus at the break, making two half-time substitutions with Emmanuel Agbadou and Jackson Tchatchoua coming in for Matt Doherty and Hwang Hee-chan. The changes paid dividends almost immediately, with Wolves opening the scoring. Spurs failed to deal with a corner, as Ladislav Krejci flicked the ball on. Santiago Bueno couldn’t reach the bouncing ball with his outstretched boot, but Guglielmo Vicario’s parry ricocheted off Palhinha, before Bueno reacted fastest to tap the ball in.
Spurs responded with a double change of their own: Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson entered the fray for Djed Spence and Rodrigo Bentancur as Frank’s side searched for a goal. It seemed as if it was to no avail though, as Spurs arguably looked even worse following the changes, struggling to find any sort of fluidity or cutting edge. Late introductions of Pape Matar Sarr, Wilson Odobert, and Mathys Tel didn’t make much of a difference either, with the home side continuing to look disjointed and frustrated.
That all changed in the final minute of added time. Mathys Tel looked to curl a cross into the box. Underhit, all Sarr could do was body the ball back to Palhinha on the edge of the 18-yard area. The Portuguese midfielder though stroked the ball beautifully through a crowd of defenders into the back of the net with Johnstone left scrambling, leaving the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd in raptures. Frank celebrated, Vitor Pereira fumed, and the match finished a goal apiece.
Reactions
- What a rollercoaster. It was a strong first half from Spurs, but they really struggled to adjust to Wolves’ changes in the second half. But hey, the way that was going I will take a point!
- Wolves’ switch to a back three seemed to throw out all of Spurs’ pressing and build-up patterns, and due to Spurs’ positioning meant Wolves all of a sudden were far more well-placed to jump on second balls, in contrast to the first half.
- Thomas Frank has to do better in preparing his side for these situations, or at least in making mid-match adjustments. It was probably 30 minutes before Spurs looked somewhat comfortable; a better side would have maximized their advantage far more and the match would have been out of reach.
- Seemed a bit of an odd decision to start both Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur against a side always likely to sit deep and defend. Sitting one of those two and playing Lucas at the #8 and Xavi at the #10 would likely have done wonders for Spurs’ fluidity through the middle. Xavi especially has looked so much more comfortable in the center of the park in his time at Spurs, as he looked out of place today on the left before tiring in the second half.
- But hey! It was sure good having Palhinha still on the pitch late on! Frank knows ball, I guess. I found Palhinha frustrating in a bunch of ways today, but the guy has shown thus far this season he is extremely cool in front of goal, which is not something I expected!
- It was good to see Pedro Porro get at least some rest. Man looked like his legs were about to fall off against Doncaster.
- There’s still some worrying signs here with regards to the attack. Sure, it’s still early days, but Spurs need better ideas to create chances when chasing a match than just pumping crosses into the box and hoping.
- Also – I am getting really sick of Spurs knocking the ball around in their own half when time is almost up and there’s still a chance to take all three points. It’s not the first time it’s happened this season, and Wilson Odobert dallying on the ball for a good thirty seconds drove me nuts. Lump it forward!
- The fixtures don’t let up from here: Spurs head to the far north midweek to take on last season’s Europa League opponents in the form of Bodo/Glimt.
- One point gained, or two points dropped? You decide. COYS!
