Palhinha scores late to earn Tottenham a point vs Wolves

Joao Palhinha celebrates after his late equalising goal against Wolves

Wolverhampton Wanderers avoided becoming the fourth club in history to lose each of their opening six games of a Premier League season, yet suffered late heartbreak as Tottenham Hotspur scored to snatch a 1-1 draw deep into stoppage time.

Looking to build on a promising start that has delivered 10 points from their first five league games,0Spurs were dominant throughout the first period.

There was no shortage of chances, with Mohammed Kudus first to test Wolves’ resistance, arriving at the back post to meet Xavi Simons’ bouncing cross with a header that was tipped onto the crossbar by Sam Johnstone.

Kudus linked up sublimely with Lucas Bergvall minutes later, but despite burying a sweeping first-time strike inside the far post, the Ghanaian’s celebrations were cut short as he was in an offside position when receiving a delightful flick-on.

The end of the first half brought a flurry of opportunities, the majority of which came Tottenham’s way, as Bergvall attempted to acrobatically hook an effort towards goal and Kudus saw another strike thwarted by Johnstone.

Richarlison then came within inches of turning home at the back post, only for Andre’s intervention to deflect Kudus’ cross agonisingly out of reach. Wolves had barely threatened, yet on the stroke of half-time, Matt Doherty clipped a half-volley onto the woodwork as the sides went into the break level.

Fortunately for Wolves, their unwanted joint-Premier League record of trailing in nine consecutive games at the interval wasn’t broken outright here, yet that did little to alleviate the sustained pressure they were placed under after the restart.

However, having held firm for almost an hour, the visitors took a shock lead when a corner wasn’t dealt with by Spurs, allowing Santiago Bueno to flick a boot at a loose ball, turning in his first goal for Wolves.

Tottenham’s 15-game undefeated streak against sides starting the day bottom of the league (W12, D3) was now in doubt as they failed to muster an immediate response to falling behind.

In fact, Vitor Pereira’s side looked the likelier to find the net with 15 minutes to play, denied only by the foot of Guglielmo Vicario, who repelled a rifled low shot from Hugo Bueno.0

Match stats

It looked as if Wolves had made it over the line, but deep into stoppage time, Joao Palhinha slotted into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to steal a point and break the visitors’ resistance.

Despite securing their first point of the season, Wolves remain rooted to the foot of the table, while Spurs miss the chance to go second, instead climbing to third, four points off the pace.

Click here to see all the stats of the match.