Wolverhampton Wanderers claw back at Tottenham with late Premier League show

LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou admitted that his team ran out of steam, as they conceded two dramatic stoppage-time goals at Wolverhampton Wanderers in their 2-1 Premier League loss on Saturday.

Brennan Johnson’s first Spurs goal looked set to send the Australian’s under-strength side back above leaders Manchester City.

But, after being wasteful for the first 90 minutes, Wolves found their shooting boots in added time.

Substitute Pablo Sarabia smashed home the equaliser in the 91st minute, before Mario Lemina steered in the winner six minutes later.

“It is always a tough game here. Wolves are always going to come on strong and we ran out of legs at the end,” said Postecoglou on TNT Sports.

“But it is understandable; a lot of those guys haven’t played. They scored a couple of good goals, and it is a hard one to take.

“Wolves are tough to beat and they came at us. We could have been more positive in the first half. We scored early and played conservatively, we had chances we could have taken.”

Spurs have now suffered back-to-back defeats after losing for the first time in the league under Postecoglou on Monday, when Chelsea emerged from north London 4-1 victors after an action-packed encounter.

There were also longer lasting consequences for Tottenham from the loss to Chelsea, as summer signings Micky van de Ven and James Maddison were ruled out with injury until the new year.

On playing without their influential playmaker Maddison, Postecoglou added: “The game is the same, 11 v 11. We’ve got to keep playing our football and the chances will come from that.”

Nevertheless, Spurs made a perfect start.

Pedro Porro’s low cross picked out Johnson at the near post and the Welshman prodded in his first goal since a £47.5 million (S$79 million) move from Nottingham Forest.

That was potent as the Tottenham attack were all game but the visitors were eventually made to pay for relying on a makeshift defence.

Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were suspended after being sent off against Chelsea, leaving Porro as the only regular starter in the Spurs back four.

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was again one of Tottenham’s top performers as he flew low to his right to turn Lemina’s powerful shot behind.

After the break, Wolves were guilty of failing to even make the Spurs stopper work in their search for an equaliser.

Hwang Hee-chan had scored in all five previous home league games this season, but was wasteful with a weak effort into the side netting after the ball broke to the South Korean inside the area.

Johnson had Tottenham’s one major chance to extend their lead on the counter-attack, but this time got his finish wrong as an attempted chip sailed wide.

Wolves finally produced the late moment of quality in the final third when Sarabia connected sweetly on the volley to meet Matheus Cunha’s cross.

Sarabia then turned provider for the winner with 97 minutes on the clock, as Lemina slid in to turn the Spanish international’s pass beyond the despairing dive of Vicario.

Tottenham are third after Arsenal beat Burnley 3-1 and could be leapfrogged by Liverpool on Sunday.

Victory lifts Wolves up to 11th, nine points clear of the relegation zone.

“It is an amazing feeling. We’ve been pushing so hard. We deserve this game, we had the best tactic to play against them and we showed it today. I scored the winner and I’m really happy,” said Lemina on TNT Sports.

“I’m feeling at my best. I’m not getting injured and the fans have supported me.

“I really love them and the club. I’ve tried to give back to them. We’ve been pushing hard, pressing, pressing.

“We need to think about the international break and the next game, but we are going to enjoy this.” AFP