Joao Gomes double gives Wolves win at Tottenham to dent hosts’ top-four push

Tottenham’s top-four hopes suffered a blow after a Joao Gomes brace fired Wolves to a deserved 2-1 away win in north London.

Spurs had claimed back fourth spot from Aston Villa with a last-gasp victory over Brighton last weekend but struggled to break down Gary O’Neil’s side.

Gomes headed Wolves ahead in the 42nd minute and, while Dejan Kulusevski levelled for Tottenham straight after half-time, Pedro Neto’s wonderful solo run settled the contest.

Neto raced half the length of the pitch before he teed up Gomes to side-foot home with 63 minutes played to earn the visitors to a fourth win from their last five matches.

There was a big contingent of South Korea fans inside the stadium with two of the nations’ best going head-to-head and Hwang Hee-chan should have scored in the fifth minute.

Wolves worked the ball out wide to Nelson Semedo, who was denied by Guglielmo Vicario and Hwang inexplicably sliced over the rebound from close range.

Spurs threatened for the first time soon after when Ben Davies fired over on the turn before the visitors created another promising opportunity but Rayan Ait-Nouri curled straight at Vicario.

The stop-start nature to the contest continued although Tottenham enjoyed a rare foray into the away penalty area with 36 minutes played only for Kulusevski to side foot well wide from James Maddison’s pass.

Wolves had frustrated the hosts’ well, while also proving a threat and made their dominance count with 42 minutes on the clock.

Defeat in N17. pic.twitter.com/80gpdqdY8n

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 17, 2024

From Wolves’ second corner of the match Pablo Sarabia picked out Gomes, who headed into the top corner after being given too much space.

It was a deserved breakthrough but