In a dramatic finish, Wolves snatched a 2-1 victory over Tottenham with goals from Pablo Sarabia and Mario Lemina in injury time on Saturday, denying the visitors the chance to go top of the Premier League table.
Sarabia, who came on as a late change by Gary O’Neil, proved to be a masterstroke as he scored the leveller in the 91st minute and assisted the winner in the 97th minute.
The outcome left Spurs trailing Manchester City in the standings, while Wolves moved up to 12th before the rest of the weekend’s games.
“We are so happy, we worked so hard. We earned this game,” Lemina said to TNT Sports.
“We had the right strategy to face them and we demonstrated it today. I got the decisive goal and I’m very pleased.”
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou had to use a patchy back four due to injuries and bans, with Pedro Porro being the only regular starter.
But the right back made his presence felt in the third minute when he linked up with Dejan Kulusevski to deliver the ball into the box and assist 22-year-old Brennan Johnson for a simple finish from close range – his maiden goal for the club.
The first half was lively but without many clear chances and Wolves’ best attempt came after the 30th minute when Lemina tested Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario with a fine shot.
Wolves were positive in the second half, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Rayan Aït-Nouri showing skill and flair with the ball on several occasions, but they could not find the equaliser.
Hwang Hee-Chan and Sasa Kalajdzic both missed the target as Spurs held on to their lead, but Sarabia eventually broke their resistance in the 91st minute when he skilfully controlled Matheus Cunha’s cross and volleyed in from a tight angle.
With the game heading for a draw, Wolves took a quick free kick in the 97th minute and Lemina made a perfect run to receive Sarabia’s pass and slot the ball into the bottom corner for all three points.
“It is never an easy game here. Wolves are always going to finish strong and we ran out of steam at the end,” Postecoglou said.
“It is understandable, a lot of those guys haven’t played. They scored a couple of good goals, a tough one to swallow.
Video source: NBC Sports
