Indonesia
Nigeria
South Africa

Wolverhampton Wanderers stun Tottenham Hotspur thanks to Joao Gomes double

sportsmole.co.uk, 17 February 2024, 16:56
Wolverhampton Wanderers completed their first Premier League double over Tottenham Hotspur in 14 years with a thrilling 2-1 win over the Lilywhites in North London.

Two efforts from midfield maestro Joao Gomes either side of a Dejan Kulusevski equaliser propelled the visitors to another eye-catching away success in the capital, which also saw Tottenham lose their five-game home winning run and suffer three straight losses to their West Midlands foes for the very first time.

With Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie nursing injuries, Emerson Royal and Ben Davies were two of four changes made by Ange Postecoglou, who also introduced Son Heung-min and Yves Bissouma back into the XI in place of Timo Werner and Rodrigo Bentancur.

Meanwhile, Hwang Hee-chan was passed fit to deputise for stricken teammate Matheus Cunha in the Wolves attack, and the South Korean had a golden chance to break the deadlock in the sixth minute of a frenetic opening, but he cleared the crossbar after Guglielmo Vicario palmed Nelson Semedo's strike into his path.

The visitors were carving out the most promising openings of the early exchanges on the counter-attack, but clear-cut chances were still at a premium, barring a Kulusevski attempt which flashed wide in the 36th minute.

Wolves came back into the contest as the half-time whistle approached, and Gary O'Neil's side edged ahead in front of the away end in the 42nd minute, as Gomes leapt to meet Pablo Sarabia's corner and directed a beautiful header just inside the post.

Gomes was criminally left unmarked on the edge of the six-yard area, and Vicario was left rooted to the spot as his header floated into the net, but not even a minute of the second half had passed before Tottenham found themselves on level terms again.

A sea of red shirts failed to deal with a long Tottenham throw into the box, and an alert Kulusevski took full advantage, jinking past Craig Dawson and poking through the legs of Jose Sa at his near post.

The tie remained as open as ever following the Swede's equaliser, as the feet of Vicario denied Sarabia in the 56th minute, four moments before Kulusevski tried his luck from range and saw his shot palmed away by Sa.

However, as was the case in their crushing of Chelsea, Wolves' masterful counter-attacking play came to the fore in the 63rd minute, as following a cleared Spurs corner, Pedro Neto sprinted into the right-hand side of the Tottenham box before finding the arriving Gomes, who swept in his second of the day with a crisp first-time strike into the centre of the goal.

The changes soon arrived en masse for Spurs - including last weekend's injury-time hero Brennan Johnson - but Wolves were containing their hosts with relative ease as the clock ticked down.

One gilt-edged opening presented itself to Tottenham in the fourth minute of injury time, but it fell to the wrong man, as Davies got his header all wrong from Kulusevski's cross before the final whistle blew.

With Aston Villa coming away from Fulham with maximum points, the Lilywhites have dropped down to fifth in the standings, while O'Neil's side temporarily jump above Chelsea into 10th place.

Owing to Chelsea's involvement in the EFL Cup final next weekend, Tottenham have the luxury of a fortnight's rest before they meet Crystal Palace on March 2, whereas Wolves are at home to Sheffield United next Sunday.

Top News

12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Fresh from snapping a four-game winless sequence, Chelsea endeavour to get back on track in the Premier League when they square up to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk An extremely stern examination of Liverpool's Premier League title credentials awaits on Tuesday night, when the Reds visit high-flying Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk On the hunt for a fourth successive victory across all competitions, a rejuvenated Manchester City head down south to tackle Brentford in Tuesday's Premier League affair. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk For the first time in over 45 years, Monaco will visit Stade Auguste-Delaune for a Coupe de France fixture against Reims with a spot in the round of 16 at stake on Tuesday. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk The transfer window is open! Clubs around the UK and Europe have one final chance to strengthen their squads for the second half of the season. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Sivasspor vs. Alanyaspor (Sunday, 10.30am) Sivasspor will look to arrest their alarming slide when they host Alanyaspor in round 19 of the Turkish Super Lig on Sunday. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk FC Twente vs. Willem II (Sunday, 11.15am) FC Twente will be hoping to get 2025 off to a winning start when they face fellow top-half opponents Willem II at De Grolsch Veste in Sunday's early kickoff in the Eredivisie. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Le Havre vs. Lens (Sunday, 2.00pm) Seeking their first victory since November, Le Havre will aim to close the gap between themselves and relegation when they host Lens on Sunday at Stade Oceane. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk RB Leipzig vs. Werder Bremen (Sunday, 2.30pm) RB Leipzig boss Marco Rose will hope to leave the rumours of his potential dismissal behind in 2024 and start 2025 with a win in the Bundesliga against Werder Bremen at home on Sunday at Red Bull Arena. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Genoa vs. Parma (Sunday, 11.30am) Separated by one point in the Serie A standings, both Genoa and Parma will seek their first win of 2025 in Sunday's lunchtime kickoff, as they meet at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Las Palmas vs. Getafe (Sunday, 1.00pm) Las Palmas will be aiming to stretch their unbeaten run in La Liga to five matches when they welcome Getafe to Estadio Gran Canaria on Sunday afternoon. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Aberdeen vs. Hearts (Sunday, 3.00pm) Aberdeen, looking to end a horrific 10-game winless run in the Scottish Premiership, are set to welcome Hearts to the Pittodrie Stadium on Sunday afternoon. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Hull City vs. Doncaster (Sunday, 12.00pm) As part of this weekend's FA Cup Third Round action, Championship Hull City are set to host League Two Doncaster Rovers on Sunday at The MKM Stadium. 12 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Despite the financial obstacles, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has insisted that he will try to work out a way of bringing Marcus Rashford to AC Milan this season. 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool have reportedly suffered a blow in their pursuit of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who is said to be in advanced negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain. 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk AC Milan are reported to be talks to sign Manchester City right-back Kyle Walker after Pep Guardiola announced the defender wants to leave the club this month 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Crystal Palace have reportedly reached an agreement to sign Millwall attacker Romain Esse. 11 January 2025 talksport.com Kyle Walker is the perfect Trent Alexander-Arnold replacement - Liverpool should make a move for the Manchester City star this month. 11 January 2025 talksport.com Graham Potter has been urged to sign a striker as Darren Bent outlined what he must do to transform West Ham's fortunes. 11 January 2025 talksport.com Pep Guardiola has sensationally told talkSPORT that Kyle Walker has asked to leave Manchester City. 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that defender Kyle Walker has asked to leave the club. 11 January 2025 talksport.com Jack Grealish has finally ended his 13-month long wait for a first Manchester City goal in the club's 8-0 mauling over Salford City. 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk James McAtee scored a hat-trick and Jeremy Doku produced a man-of-the-match display as Manchester City obliterated Salford City 8-0 in the third round of the FA Cup. 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Villarreal will be bidding to make it successive victories in La Liga when they head to Real Sociedad on Monday evening, and this contest will represent the Yellow Submarine's first match of 2025. 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Real Madrid and Barcelona will lock horns in the final of the 2025 Spanish Super Cup on Sunday night. 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Marcus Rashford was allegedly not with the Manchester United squad that headed down to London on Saturday afternoon for Sunday's FA Cup third-round contest with Arsenal. 11 January 2025 talksport.com Antony has reportedly filed an arbitration case against former club Ajax over fines imposed during his move to Manchester United. 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool are all competing for the signature of Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Joao Gomes, according to a report. 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Eintracht Frankfurt CEO Markus Krosche has confirmed that one club has "made contact" over a move to sign Omar Marmoush, amid reported interest from Manchester City. 11 January 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool have reportedly slapped a £40m price tag on the head of attacker Harvey Elliott, who is on the radar of Borussia Dortmund and Brighton & Hove Albion.