Daily Times

Tottenham Hotspur winger Lucas Moura’s brilliant solo strike and defender Jan Vertonghen’s late header sealed a 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in an entertaining Premier League game at Molineux Stadium on Sunday. It was Tottenham’s fourth league victory in five games under Jose Mourinho since the Portuguese took over last month and the result also snapped Wolves’ impressive 11-game unbeaten run in the competition. Tottenham got off to the perfect start in the eighth minute when the lively Moura drifted past several Wolves defenders and smashed in a fierce right-footed shot that gave goalkeeper Rui Patricio no chance at the near post.

Vertonghen, who endured a torrid afternoon due to wave after wave of Wolves attacks, popped up for the winning goal in the first minute of stoppage time with a fine header from Christian Eriksen’s corner to seal all three points for the visitors. Wolves had earlier responded in emphatic fashion in the 67th minute when Adama Traore fired in from distance for his fourth league goal of the campaign, after the hosts had relentlessly pushed for an equaliser on a rainy afternoon. Spurs could have earlier doubled their advantage in the 37th minute, but Eric Dier dragged a shot wide from close range and only managed to hit the outside of the post after Patricio had failed to clear his lines. Victory on a testing day lifted Tottenham to fifth in the standings on 26 points, three behind fourth-placed Chelsea who they host next Sunday.

“We knew the game was going to be difficult. They didn’t catch us by surprise. We had a good start like we tried to. We almost scored a second but against Wolves that wouldn’t have killed the game,” Mourinho told the BBC. “They’re strong. They use the sides, the centre, difficult in transition. Traore and Diogo Jota are incredibly fast and difficult to stop. “We coped with their spirit. At 1-1 they tried, Wolves aren’t a team satisfied with a point. We knew if we arrive in the last part we could score. After that we had to close the door… three incredible points.” Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo said he was happy with the team’s attacking performance but not their defending. “We played very good. We weren’t perfect, almost. We should have defended better… I’m pleased with the boys,” Santo said. “Spurs are a very good team. We broke them many times… the final moments require a lot of focus… we were more obsessed about scoring than defending.”