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Palhinha scores in injury-time as Spurs rescue point against battling Wolves

Joao Palhinha celebrates after his late equalising goal against Wolves
Joao Palhinha celebrates after his late equalising goal against WolvesIan Kington / AFP

Wolverhampton Wanderers avoided becoming the fourth club in history to lose each of their opening six games of a Premier League (PL) season, yet suffered late heartbreak as Tottenham Hotspur scored to snatch a 1-1 draw deep into stoppage time.

Key stats

- Since the start of last season, only Leicester City (15) and West Ham United (14) have fallen 1-0 behind in more different Premier League home games than Tottenham Hotspur (13).

- Wolves have failed to win in their last 10 games in the Premier League, their last longer winless streak was from 4th May 2024 to 2nd November 2024, a run of 13 games.

- At 93:27, João Palhinha scored Tottenham Hotspur's latest equalising goal in a Premier League game since September 2023 against Sheffield United (Richarlison, 97:33).

Highlights

Analysis

Player ratings
Player ratingsFlashscore

Santiago Bueno starred for Wolves and earned a Flashscore rating of 8.7, but his second-half strike was not enough to earn all three points.

Match momentum
Match momentumOpta by StatsPerform

Match report

Looking to build on a promising start that has delivered 10 points from their first five PL games, Spurs were dominant throughout the first period.

There was no shortage of chances, with Mohammed Kudus first to test Wolves’ resistance, arriving at the back post to meet Xavi Simons’ bouncing cross with a header that was tipped onto the crossbar by Sam Johnstone.

Kudus linked up sublimely with Lucas Bergvall minutes later, but despite burying a sweeping first-time strike inside the far post, the Ghanaian’s celebrations were cut short as he was in an offside position when receiving a delightful flick-on.

The end of the first half brought a flurry of opportunities, the majority of which came Tottenham’s way, as Bergvall attempted to acrobatically hook an effort towards goal and Kudus saw another strike thwarted by Johnstone.

Richarlison then came within inches of turning home at the back post, only for André’s intervention to deflect Kudus’ cross agonisingly out of reach. Wolves had barely threatened, yet on the stroke of HT, Matt Doherty clipped a half-volley onto the woodwork as the sides went into the break level.

Fortunately for Wolves, their unwanted joint-PL record of trailing in nine consecutive games at the interval wasn’t broken outright here, yet that did little to alleviate the sustained pressure they were placed under after the restart.

However, having held firm for almost an hour, the visitors took a shock lead when a corner wasn’t dealt with by Spurs, allowing Santiago Bueno to flick a boot at a loose ball, turning in his first goal for Wolves.

Tottenham’s 15-game undefeated streak against sides starting the day bottom of the league (W12, D3) was now in doubt as they failed to muster an immediate response to falling behind. In fact, Vítor Pereira’s side looked the likelier to find the net with 15 minutes to play, denied only by the foot of Guglielmo Vicario, who repelled a rifled low shot from Hugo Bueno. 

Match stats
Match statsOpta by StatsPerform

It looked as if Wolves had made it over the line, but deep into stoppage time, João Palhinha slotted into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to steal a point and break the visitors’ resistance. Despite securing their first point of the season, Wolves remain rooted to the foot of the table, while Spurs miss the chance to go second, instead climbing to third, four points off the pace.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Santiago Bueno (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

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