WOLVES STRENGTHENED THEIR top-four hopes with a 2-0 win at hapless Tottenham, whose own ambitions of Champions League football suffered a big blow.
Bruno Lage’s side scored twice in the opening 20 minutes, through Raul Jimenez and Leander Dendoncker, to lay the foundations of the triumph.
Not many will have fancied Wolves’ chances of competing for the Champions League places this season but they have gone under the radar nicely and with this result moved above Spurs and into seventh, three points outside the top four with a game in hand.
They thoroughly deserved their victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and, once they got in front, it was not until the final 20 minutes that Spurs looked like they were going to add to the measly eight away goals Wolves have conceded this term.
Harry Kane was on a one-man mission to try to score while Harry Winks’ had a deflected effort crash into the post, but this was another disappointing day for the hosts.
It was a third straight Premier League defeat for Antonio Conte’s team which highlights that, despite having games in hand on the teams above them, the top four is not a realistic aim.
They were totally culpable in their own downfall and could not have been any more generous in helping Wolves to a two-goal lead inside the opening 20 minutes, with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris having an afternoon to forget.
The captain could have been excused for parrying Ruben Neves’ shot from distance in wet conditions, but only he knows why he opted to punch clear Dendoncker’s follow-up effort, sending it straight to Jimenez, who finished with aplomb into the far corner.
Lloris was again involved as Dendoncker scored from close range in the 18th minute.
The Frenchman misplaced a pass to Ben Davies, the Wales international scuffed his clearance, allowing Wolves to break into the box. After Daniel Podence’s shot was blocked by Davinson Sanchez and rebounded off the post, Dendoncker rammed home from close range.
Tottenham were a shambles and Conte made an early change, sending on January signing Dejan Kulusevski for Ryan Sessegnon and switching to a 4-2-3-1.
It did not change anything as Wolves looked dangerous whenever they went forward and only smart stops from Lloris, denying Jimenez and Podence, kept his side in it.
Kane headed straight at Jose Sa with the final act of the first half and Spurs fans roundly booed their team after a diabolical display.
Spurs did not have to do much to improve after the break, but there never seemed any real prospect of them getting back into it.
England captain Kane again provided an easy save for Sa when played through on by Son Heung-min, shooting straight at him after his first touch had taken him wide.
Winks saw a deflected effort from the edge of the area smash into the post while Kulusevski saw a shot drift inches wide when he should have found the corner.
Kane and Cristian Romero also had headers saved in the final 10 minutes, but in the end Wolves saw it out to pile the pressure on West Ham, Manchester United and Arsenal.
Irish international Matt Doherty started for Spurs, against his former side.
At the other end of the table, Kieran Trippier struck for the second time in six days to fire Newcastle to a third successive Premier League victory as they only just got the better of Aston Villa.
The England full-back’s 35th-minute free-kick secured a 1-0 victory which eased the Magpies four points clear of the relegation zone on an afternoon when VAR played a key role.
Trippier’s decisive effort came after referee Craig Pawson had been correctly advised to change his decision to award a penalty, and the official also had to rule out an Ollie Watkins equaliser for offside on the advice of his colleagues at Stockley Park.
Villa will feel they deserved to leave St James’ Park with something to show for their efforts after mounting a concerted second-half fightback, but ultimately they were unable to trouble goalkeeper Martin Dubravka enough to prevent his side from winning a third league game on the trot for the first time since November 2018.
Joe Willock sent a 20th-minute shot wide of Emiliano Martinez’s left post after Chris Wood had made a nuisance of himself on the edge of the Villa penalty area and with Ryan Fraser repeatedly finding space down the left – Wood glanced a 28th-minute header across the face of goal from the Scotland international’s delivery – Newcastle looked marginally the more threatening.
They were awarded a 31st-minute penalty by Pawson after Willock had been tripped by Calum Chambers, but a VAR check revealed contact had taken place inches outside the area.
However Trippier, who scored his first goal for the club from a free-kick against Everton on Tuesday night, repeated the feat with the help of a slight deflection off Emiliano Buendia’s thigh
Wood screwed a 43rd-minute shot well wide after Willock had robbed Douglas Luiz and the Newcastle striker deflected a John McGinn shot just past his own post in stoppage-time but the home side, with £13million January signing Dan Burn making an impressive debut, went in at the break a goal to the good.
They were dealt a blow, however, within three minutes of the restart when Trippier, who had shaken off a calf problem to start, went down and was unable to continue, with Emil Krafth taking his place.
Villa had returned in determined mood with Buendia in particular looking keen to make amends, and Watkins fired over from distance and Matty Cash across the face in quick succession with the Magpies unsettled.
Dubravka made his first save of note to claim Luiz’s 56th-minute free-kick, although was far from extended in doing so, while Martinez was relieved to see Allan Saint-Maximin’s goal-bound effort deflected wide by Cash’s lunge at the other end.
The visitors thought they had levelled when Watkins headed home at the far post after Philippe Coutinho’s shot had looped up off Fabian Schar with 61 minutes gone, but after a lengthy VAR check, his effort was ruled out for offside.
Premier League 2pm kick offs – results
- Burnley 0-1 Liverpool
- Newcastle 1-0 Aston Villa
- Spurs 0-2 Wolves
