Tottenham 1-2 Wolves: Away-day masterclass dumps Spurs out of top four

Tottenham lost their grip on fourth place after being subjected to an away-day masterclass by Wolves.

Gary O’Neil’s side required only 29 per cent possession to secure a 2-1 win in north London on Saturday, with Joao Gomes netting twice either side of Dejan Kulusevski’s leveller.

Tottenham, looking for a sixth home win in a row in the Premier League, started brightly but failed to test Jose Sa as a resolute Wolves defence settled quickly.

Both teams looked more suited to fast, punchy attacks yet Spurs’ high line against their opponents’ low block meant Wolves had greater room to spring into and Hwang Hee-chan should have opened the scoring on six minutes when Nelson Semedo’s shot was parried directly into his path - only for the Korean to fire over from close range.

Tottenham looked threatening around the box yet were repelled time and again by visiting defenders, while looking vulnerable to breakaways down the other end.

Shortly before half-time, Gomes was left unmarked from Pablo Sarabia’s corner as he powered home the opening goal.

It was the fourth home game in a row where Spurs had conceded first, a worrying nod to the ten-game spell Antonio Conte’s doomed side endured last season.

In fact - and not too dissimilarly to Conte’s team of old - the hosts burst into life at the restart and Kulusevski levelled up after only 33 seconds following a mini scramble in the box, which he took hold of to beat Craig Dawson and roll home a shot at the near post.

Tottenham immediately threatened for a second with Kulusevski’s tail up in particular, but the threat on the counter persisted as Guglielmo Vicario denied Pablo Sarabia.

A carbon-copy breakaway shortly after the hour mark, after Yves Bissouma lost possession from a Spurs corner, saw Pedro Neto this time the one to gallop down the right before his low cross picked out Gomes for a controlled first-time finish to put Wolves back ahead.

The familiar routine of Tottenham corner, Wolves clearance, Tottenham error and Wolves counter almost reaped a third for the visitors but substitute Jeanricner Bellegarde’s shot was blocked. Ben Davies had the chance to snatch a draw in stoppage time but skewed a header wide.

A fourth win in six away games puts O’Neil’s side back within reach of the European places while Aston Villa’s win at Fulham drops Spurs into fifth.