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There may be nothing like Monday night’s carnage at Tottenham, but there was more drama, late goals and another defeat for Ange Postecoglou on Saturday afternoon at Wolverhampton.
Mario Lemina scored the winning goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time, turning in a cross from substitute Pablo Sarabia, who had scored the equalizer six minutes earlier.
It came down to a late collapse from Spurs, who had taken the lead in the third minute with a Brennan Johnson goal and led until the board went up to signal six minutes of stoppage time.
That’s when Sarabia struck with a beautiful goal, controlling a pass from Matheus Cunha with his right foot and smashing it past Guglielmo Vicario with his left.
Gary O’Neil’s team refused to settle for a point and chased the winner. The ball was scored by Lemina, who capped off an excellent performance in midfield by arriving late to convert Sarabia’s low cross and sparking wild celebrations at Molineux.
With their injuries, suspensions and depleted squad, Spurs could hardly have hoped for a better start, taking the lead inside three minutes with Johnson’s first goal for the club.
The Wales winger started the attack wide on the left and by the time Dejan Kulusevski released Pedro Porro on the other flank, he had entered the six-yard box to tap in the low cross.
It was the perfect response to Monday night’s defeat, the first under Postecoglou, at home to Chelsea, but their biggest concerns lay at the back.
With Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie suspended and Micky van de Ven injured, Postecoglou took his side to Molineux without three of the usual back four.
Eric Dier and Ben Davies were paired in the center with Emerson Royal at left-back, with teenage defenders Ashley Phillips and Alfie Dorrington providing cover on the bench.
The lack of Van de Ven’s extreme recovery speed is expected to leave them vulnerable behind the high defensive line that Postecoglou insists on, but they compensated by adding extra grip in midfield by replacing the injured James Maddison with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg .
Wolves, who made two changes to the team defeated at Sheffield United in their previous outing, threatened to counter-attack in the first half but failed to convert promising situations into clear goal chances.
Dier and Davies deserve praise. What they may lack in speed they make up for with their experience, instinct and desire to defend, but the home side were very wasteful in front of goal and disappointed with the quality of the ball from wide areas and set pieces, just as they were at Bramall Lane been.
Vicario only had to make two saves in the first half. One, very impressive, low to his right to deny Lemina from a corner and another, more routine, to prevent a Toti header.
A yellow card for Yves Bissouma for a foul on Lemina in stoppage time at the end of the first half is his fifth of the season and leads to a one-match suspension. He will miss the match against Aston Villa.
Wolves created some clearer chances after the break, with Cunha having more influence and getting on the ball in some dangerous areas, but they continued to waste them.
Cunha went wide from the edge of the box and the in-form Hee-chan Hwang somehow missed the target as Joao Gomes’ shot deflected to him in front of goal. Jean-Ricnar Bellegarde shot over again.
Johnson could have calmed Tottenham’s nerves had he been able to finish off a sweeping break from the defense. Heung-min Son turned a pass to Hojbjerg, who found Johnson, but his effort was high and wide.
Jose Sa saved from Giovani Lo Celso before Wolves finally found the net and the long wait looked worth it as they took the points and left Spurs empty-handed.