Tottenham rescued by Joao Palhinha’s stoppage-time equaliser against Wolves

Joao Palhinha rescued a 1-1 draw for Tottenham with a stoppage-time leveller to deny Wolves a first Premier League victory of the season.

Wolves had lost their opening five league fixtures, but were set to turn the form tables on its head when Santiago Bueno put them ahead in the 54th minute after Vitor Pereira made a host of changes in an attempt to halt their winless run.

Spurs would have gone second with a victory and yet struggled to create chances against bottom-of-the-table Wolves, especially in the second half until Palhinha curled home in the fourth-minute of stoppage time.

Palhinha’s third goal since he joined on loan from Bayern Munich ensured new Tottenham boss Thomas Frank avoided a second home loss of the campaign, but it still represented a big missed opportunity after defeats for Liverpool and Chelsea earlier in the day.

Pereira ripped up his trusted 3-4-2-1 formation in north London and went with four at the back for the first time in the Premier League since his appointment by Wolves last December.

It initially worked as the visitors forced two early corners, but Spurs should have gone ahead after 15 minutes.

Xavi Simons, one of two changes from last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Brighton, cut inside and picked out Mohammed Kudus, who had a close-range header brilliantly tipped on to the crossbar by Sam Johnstone.

Johnstone had got the nod over Jose Sa and picked the ball out of the net in the 27th minute, but Kudus’ lovely curled finish from an equally excellent Lucas Bergvall flick was correctly disallowed for offside.

Frank’s side remained on the front foot but Bergvall lifted over from a fine cross by Kudus, who went up a notch as the half ended.

Moments later a powerful left-footed strike by Kudus forced