A home game against relegation-threatened opposition ought to mean only one thing for Tottenham. Instead there was an impossible-to-ignore sense of foreboding before and during plenty of this one. It is simply the period that Ange Postecoglou and his players are living.

Spurs trailed to Hwang Hee-chan, who started his first Premier League game for Wolves since August. They equalised through Rodrigo Bentancur. They missed a penalty, Son Heung-min the culprit. And then they led through Brennan Johnson. All inside the first half. They had the openings in the second period to make it 3-1, to soothe the nerves that were almost audible inside the stadium.

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Everybody knew that there could be a late sting and not just because Wolves have been revitalised since Vítor Pereira replaced Gary O’Neil as the manager and oversaw victories against Leicester and Manchester United. And so it came to pass. It was a slice inside from Rayan Aït-Nouri followed by the killer ball up to the substitute Jørgen Strand Larsen, who took a touch before lashing high inside the near corner.

The Spurs support booed upon the full-time whistle but there is nothing wildly out of the ordinary about that. The PA guy was quick to press play on some loud music to drown them out. The feeling was one of helplessness, a bitter frustration. The squad, stretched and sapped by a punishing run of injuries, are giving everything. What they have is not enough. The lack of sharpness was clear. Spurs have won only once in seven league games and they continue to be mired in mid-table.

There were numerous moments that seemed to sum up their situation, taking in the hamstring injury that forced off Destiny Udogie shortly after the second-half restart. And the booking that Bentancur collected at the very end for a foolish hack at the substitute Rodrigo Gomes. It was his fifth yellow card of the league season meaning he will miss the next game – at home against Newcastle on Saturday. Bentancur has only just returned from a seven‑match ban for making a racial slur against Son.

“I am hurting because I’m responsible, ultimately,” Postecoglou said. “When I see how hard they are trying, it hurts even more because you want them to get a reward. Of course, it hurts. It hurts immensely.”

Wolves had won on three of their previous five trips to this stadium and they were ahead when Aït‑Nouri rolled a short free-kick towards Hwang outside the Spurs box. Hwang had so much time and space; the first‑time curled finish was a beauty. In the battle of the South Koreans, Hwang v Son, there was only one winner.

The home crowd felt a little soporific. Too much Christmas turkey? Or too much time spent watching this team try to cover the spaces in front of the back four, to defend against the transition? They needed a lift and they got it when Bentancur attacked a Pedro Porro corner to flash his header home.

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It was a strange first half. Spurs grew into it and finished on top. And yet they were loose at times, throwing a couple of slapstick moments into the mix, especially the one when Dominic Solanke and Bentancur banged into each other inside the Wolves box and went to ground. They had eyes for the same shooting opportunity after a Dejan Kulusevski cut-back. The offside flag would go up against Kulusevski.

Postecoglou’s team missed chances. Radu Dragusin headed inches wide from a Porro corner in the 24th minute. Yves Bissouma lashed high on 39 minutes and there was the Son penalty miss shortly afterwards. The captain had endured a couple of wobbly moments, drawing murmurs and he watched José Sá spring the right way to deny him. The kick had been awarded for a needless challenge by André on Johnson.

Son was denied again when Matt Doherty leapt into a challenge on him but the goal to make Tottenham feel better came when Kulusevski checked inside and played a return pass to Johnson. The conversion was low and true.

Wolves’ prospects took another knock when Matheus Cunha, a livewire in the first half, failed to reappear after the interval. He was spotted on the bench with ice under his left knee. Pereira was unsure about the extent of the damage. He had lost Toti to a hamstring issue before the game while André departed with what looked like a muscle problem. When Udogie departed for Spurs, he was replaced by the lesser-spotted Sergio Reguilón.

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The second half was a slog, one of the abiding images coming when Son was among the players withdrawn by Postecoglou. He was a case study in dejection, head bowed, walking off at low speed. Son had waited for what seemed like an age before taking his penalty. This action took rather longer.

Spurs had the chances to extend their lead. Solanke got away before showing too much of the ball to Santiago Bueno while the striker could not get a touch to a cross from the substitute Timo Werner. Neither could Kulusevski finish after good work by Solanke.

Wolves created little after the interval, save for an Aït-Nouri shot that Porro blocked. But this is Spurs, a team with a rare vulnerability about them. Wolves knew that one chance could change everything. When Aït-Nouri made it for Strand Larsen, it did. Pape Sarr, on as a substitute for Spurs, might have scored in stoppage-time only to misdirect a header when well‑placed. It was not a day when they would fashion the rescue act.

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