Wolves 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur: 5 talking points as the spoils are shared at Molineux | Premier League 2020-21
Honours ended up even at Molineux tonight, as Wolves scored a late goal to deny Tottenham Hotspur a much-needed victory. Tottenham could’ve gone third in the Premier League table had they won, but the draw only moves them into fifth.
Jose Mourinho’s side raced into an early lead through a Tanguy Ndombele goal, but as has become a pattern with Tottenham recently, sat into a defensive shape thereafter.
Wolves were industrious in attack throughout the game, and as time ticked away, they found their equaliser. A corner was nicely headed home by Romain Saiss, and the hosts even missed a clear-cut chance to win the game when Fabio Silva headed directly at Hugo Lloris.
Here are 5 talking points from Wolves’ 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.
#1 Tottenham strike early yet again
Many observers were expecting a cagy game tonight, but that idea was blown away when Tanguy Ndombele’s drive flew into the Wolves net after just 57 seconds. Admittedly, it was a goal that Wolves keeper Rui Patricio should’ve done far better with – he appeared to be wrong-footed – but the truth is that fans should be used to this from Tottenham now.
The goal was the eighth time in all competitions during 2020-21 that Tottenham have scored in the first fifteen minutes of a game, and the fifth time that it’s happened in the Premier League. Jose Mourinho might have his side set up primarily as a counter-attacking unit right now, but it’s definitely the case that teams simply can’t afford to sleep on them in the opening minutes of a game.
More interestingly though, the goal was only the fourth scored by Tottenham this season that didn’t involve either Harry Kane or Son Heung-min. If they want to push for a Premier League title challenge, Mourinho’s side definitely need to find goals from more players than just that duo. And this was a positive sign that they are capable of doing that.
#2 Wolves looked largely toothless without Jimenez
Despite going behind so early, Wolves clearly carried more of an attacking threat than Tottenham today. However, despite taking eleven shots on goal – six of them on target – they never really looked like scoring outside of Romain Saiss’ late equaliser.
Essentially, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were knocking on the door throughout the match, but without Raul Jimenez – who is still out for an indefinite period following his skull fracture – they simply didn’t have the cutting edge to actually score a goal.
Given that his side have also lost Diogo Jota, who was sold to Liverpool in the most recent transfer window, Nuno should probably be concerned with his side’s lack of goals despite claiming a draw tonight.
It should come as no surprise to learn that in their 15 matches this season, Wolves have not scored more than two goals in a game – and have only managed two on four occasions.
Judging by his form in recent games, despite showing promise, it’s clear that they can’t rely on record signing Fabio Silva to replace Jimenez, either. The truth is that without the Mexican hitman, Nuno will probably have to dip into the transfer market next month to solve this problem.