Adama Traoré strikes late for Wolves to punish lacklustre Tottenham

Antonio Conte will be desperate to get back in the dugout after his time away while recovering from surgery. He will have been watching as Tottenham produced their second meek 1-0 away defeat of the week at Wolves.

Tottenham failed to score with 17 shots in their FA Cup defeat to Sheffield United, they followed that up with another 22 attempts without scoring a goal, allowing their opponents to once again take advantage. On Wednesday the winner came in the 79th minute, on this occasion Adama Traoré waited until the 82nd to fire into the top corner.

The visitors were architects of their own downfall, playing again without the energy required to break down an organised defence. Wolves failed to create a single chance in the first half but were still in the game thanks to the inept nature of Tottenham’s attacking play. In the end, the team that had only scored 18 times in 25 matches prior to kick-off were the more dangerous side and when Traoré saw his shot bounce in off the crossbar it was not a surprise. The result will be more frustrating because it was a lost opportunity to create distance between Spurs in fourth and Newcastle a place below following their loss at Manchester City.

Wolves have looked more solid since the arrivals of centre-back Craig Dawson and midfielder Mario Lemina in the winter window. The latter’s role for the afternoon was to pick up Harry Kane, returning to the team after being a substitute in midweek. The Wolves followed the England striker when he was dropping deep to collect the ball and would regularly become a third central defender between Dawson and Max Kilman.

Julen Lopetegui gave Diego Costa his first start in two months. The Brazilian-born striker is yet to score for Wolves since joining