LLORIS: WE NEED TO PLAY SMARTER
ALEX FERGUSON’S pre-match pep talk at Manchester United once involved three simple words. ‘Lads, it’s Tottenham,’ the Scot said, poking fun at the fragility of the north Londoners. Times have changed and Tottenham are now a different animal in the Premier League, though on Saturday night, it felt as if Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves embraced that Fergie mindset. They sensed a vulnerability in Mauricio Pochettino’s side. Not for the first time this season, Spurs supporters were left squirming in their seats and begging the referee to blow his whistle. Tottenham won at Molineux but this was far from convincing, and Pochettino has work to do to shake this habit of inviting punishment in the dying moments. After 67 minutes, they led 3-0 against a newly promoted Premier League club. After 79, it was 3-2 because of two penalties conceded through carelessness. After 90, their players emerged victorious but exhausted. Life as a Spurs goalkeeper, when faced with waves of attacks in the closing stages, is no picnic, as Hugo Lloris explained. ‘We need to learn,’ he said. ‘We have to be more clever with the ball and without the ball. ‘It is not the first time this has happened in the Champions League and in the league that the opponent created chances in the last minutes of the game.’ Pochettino added: ‘We have shown in the last few years that Tottenham have a way of playing and we try to respect the plan, but I think there are a lot of things to learn. The disappointment is massive to concede two cheap (goals). I don’t talk about the penalty — we need to (look) a little bit before.’ As for Wolves, they could have given up when 3-0 down but gave it a go, with Raul Jimenez and Ruben Neves scoring a penalty apiece. A wrongly disallowed goal left them feeling hard done by. On another day, they might have punished Spurs and had supporters reaching for that word ‘Spursy’ again. On this occasion, Pochettino’s side got away with it.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (3-4-3): Patricio 6; Bennett 6, Coady 6.5, Boly 6; Doherty 6, Moutinho 6, (Gibbs-White 62min, 6.5), Neves 6, Jonny 6; Cavaleiro 5.5 (Bonatini 62, 6), Jimenez 6.5, Costa 6 (Traore 84). Subs not used: Ruddy, Vinagre, Hause, Dendoncker. Scorers: Neves 68 pen, Jimenez 79 pen. Booked: Bennett. Manager: Nuno Espirito Santo 6.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-3-2-1): LLORIS 7.5; Trippier 5, Foyth 5, Alderweireld 6, Davies 6; Sissoko 6, Winks 6, Dembele 6 (Son 7, 6.5) (Eriksen 59, 6); Lamela 7, Moura 7 (Sanchez 79); Kane 6.5. Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Llorente, Aurier, Skipp. Scorers: Lamela 27, Moura 30, Kane 61. Booked: Foyth, Winks.
Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 6.5. Referee: Mike Dean 6.
Attendance: 31,185.