Wolverhampton Wanderers (Away) 25.04.2026

One side already relegated and one in need of points to avoid following them were brought together in the Black Country sunshine, so the ensuing 105 minutes proved to be a mixture of effort, lack of quality and some dodgy tackling, but the one moment that Tottenham created and too, just eight minutes from the end, was just about enough to be the difference between the two teams.  That and a moment of redemption for Kinsky, who wiped away the bad memory of a night in Madrid with one stretch of his right hand to push over a free-kick that was going in with no hesitancy about crashing into the post in doing so.

Toni survived that, but the win did not come without cost, as both Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons left the field injures, Xavi being wheeled around the pitch and the extent of their injuries will not be known for a few days nor how many matches they might miss out on.  While the side went on to win in their absence, they do make a difference to the performance of the team and remember, this was only Wolves – one of two sides who have won fewer points than us over the course of the season.

There was a new energy about Tottenham when the match started.  Hustling Wolves out of their stride, it drew some early free-kicks.  Porro played one that was headed back across the box and Solanke could get a touch on it to put it into the net, although it looked as though one of the Buenos had two hands in his back, in which case referees know not to give Spurs a penalty.  Tottenham’s pressing was causing some turnovers and when Andre mis-placed a pass, it allowed Randal Kolo Muani to run at goal, but he hit a wild shot when perhaps Solanke was better placed to receive a pass.  The urgency that Spurs were showing was paying off disrupting Wolves’ play and was making headway through the home team’s lines, winning a few corners, but nothing came from them.    When Kolo Muani played Porro into space down the right, his low ball was aimed for Dominic Solanke, but Matt Doherty slid in and just managed to nick the ball off for a corner, which was blazed way into the South Stand on the volley by Porro.

Wolves won a corner, their first, in the 28th minute and it almost led to a goal, with a 10 yard volley from Joao Gomes blocked well by Solanke at point blank range, but they won another corner when Dom tried to play the ball out.  40 minutes into the match, Solanke looked to have done a hamstring, with Richarlison coming on to lead the line.  Just before half-time, Andre flew into a dangerous challenge on Yves Bissouma and was really fortunate to only see a yellow card for what would usually be deemed “excessive force”.  The free-kick was played short and went off at the far side after a couple of passes and that ended what was a better first half for Spurs, but without any end product.  In fact, neither side had recorded a shot on target.

Biss reappeared for the second half but Kolo Muani was off and Mathys Tel came on for him.  A free-kick in the opening minute skidded off Armstrong, but went off Richi for a corner, which Spurs cleared.  Tel showed why he should be starting with a dangerous cross into the box but only Richarlison was in there and he wasn’t close to it.  Another Wolves attack won a throw-in that came in long, but again was well defended.  Spurs had a good opportunity when Xavi Simons moved forward and shifted the ball from his left foot to his right as he came inside, but his finish was hurried and ended up in the crowd behind the goal under pressure from Doherty.  Richarlison did the same when Conor Gallagher played the ball to him and it was desperate that he couldn’t get his rushed effort on target.

Porro and Mane were both booked after the Spurs defender nudged the Wolves man over.  The free-kick went straight into the wall and when Spurs tried to go forward, Xavi went over and there was a lot of concern with the physios looking at his knee.  While Simons was off, Wolves attacked and Mane put a header over after Lima had volleyed it back across to him.  Lucas Bergvall replaced Simons and Palhinha came off the bench for Bissouma.  Xavi had tried to run it off, but realised he couldn’t so had to be taken back to the dressing room in a wheelchair.

Danso thought a long ball was going all the way through but Kinsky had to come out to punch the ball away like Superman and following that, a sliding challenge by Bentancur brought him a yellow card and gave Wolves a free-kick, but they put it over the top.  Mathys had a shot that would have been on target if it hadn’t been deflected wide for a corner, which Bentancur headed at goal but an offside flag went up after Sa had made a save, as Gallagher was offside.  Gallagher picked up a yellow card for a forceful challenge on Doherty .  

Armstrong put a header wide when well-placed and Richarlison failed to reach a fantastic cross by Pedro, with Doherty getting a slight touch on it to take it away from the Brazilian.  When Mathys did well to rob Bueno and then win a corner, it was played in by Porro, it bounced off Danso and dropped to Richi, who tried to spin on the ball as it dropped down in the box to side-foot it in, but it went across to Palhinha who stretched out a right foot to guide the ball home from close range.  There was a slight pause of despair as offside was checked before the referee confirmed that the goal would stand because Doherty had played the scorer onside and massive celebration in the Spurs section.  

With Tottenham trying to see the game out, a couple of yellow cards were picked up as the Wolves frustration grew.  Danso also got booked and gave away a free-kick that was blasted at goal by Joao Gomes and heading for the top corner until Toni reached up to push it away crashing into the post in the process.  It was a vital save at a critical time and was as important as Joao’s goal.

It was all but the last touch, as the final whistle went as soon as Tottenham had cleared the corner and the sun-soaked Spurs fans had the long-awaited opportunity to celebrate a win.  It wasn’t an outstanding performance and at times, the pace was so slow, it looked as though both sides would have been happy with a point, but Tel’s determination won the corner that led to the goal.

The referee did OK, allowing physical contact without giving free-kicks for both sides, but why the early shove on Solanke in the box wasn’t a penalty when Porro had a free-kick given against him for soft nudge with one hand outside the box, who knows anymore.  He was a little too quick to pull out the yellow card on some occasions but slow to get hie red one out for Andre’s tackle just before half-time, which was reckless.

Coming out of the game with three points was a blessed relief, but the two injuries to Dom and Xavi are a concern with four games still left to play.  We are going to need as many fir players as we have as it looks like the season will go down to the wire.