Defeat at Molineux

We suffered defeat in the West Midlands on Sunday afternoon as Wolverhampton Wanderers enjoyed a 4-2 victory at Molineux.

Rayan Ait-Nouri put the home side into an early lead with Djed Spence unfortunately putting through his own net to give Wolves a 2-0 half-time advantage. And, each time we pulled a goal back in the second half, we allowed our hosts to net again soon after. First, Mathys Tel made it 2-1 just before the hour mark, only for Jorgen Strand Larsen to restore Wolves’ lead to two goals again, while Richarlison’s close-range header with five minutes remaining gave us hope of getting a result but we were punished just a minute later as Mathues Cunha wrapped up the victory for Vitor Pereira’s side.

That was the first time since 1957 that Wolves had scored four against us and extended their unbeaten run against us to five matches, moving them to two points behind us in the table, where we sit in 15th place.

Ange Postecoglou made six changes from the side that drew with Eintracht Frankfurt in Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first leg, but it was the home team that struck first after just 85 seconds. Pape Matar Sarr gave away a soft free-kick wide on the left, Guglielmo Vicario punched the set-piece clear but only as far as Ait-Nouri who struck a bouncing half-volley into the far corner from the edge of the area. There was a VAR check for offside for over two minutes, but the goal stood.

We almost conceded again shortly after, Vicario scuffing a clearance which was quickly turned back into the box but Strand Larsen flicked the ball wide while on the floor. Tel had a volley which was going to go close blocked by Andre as we looked to get a foothold in the game, with Jose Sa making a good save to keep out Yves Bissouma’s rasping drive. As the half wore on we started to enjoy some good possession and had a sight of goal in the 37th minute when Cristian Romero fizzed one of his trademark passes in to Brennan Johnson in the box, but he fired over with his snap-shot.

Then, disaster struck as Wolves doubled their lead in unfortunate circumstances as Vicario dived to push away Marshall Munetsi’s glancing header with Strand Larsen lurking, only for the ball to hit Spence and bobble over the line. Substitute Pablo Sarabia then got his header all wrong at the far post as the hosts looked to extend their lead.

The early stages of the second half were fairly even although it was Wolves with the first chance, Strand Larsen forcing Vicario into a save at his near post in the 56th minute, before we pulled one back just seconds later. Substitute Lucas Bergvall started the move with a drive forwards, sliding a pass in to Johnson down the right and his low cross was missed at the back post by Nelson Semedo with the ball finding Tel behind him and going in for the Bayern Munich loanee’s second goal in as many Premier League games.

We looked to build on that with another spell of pressure, only to be hit by a sucker punch on 63 minutes. Romero appeared to have dealt with a long pass down the left for Ait-Nouri, before the Wolves defender nipped in to steal the ball and slide it across the area for Strand Larsen to tap home. Promising free-kicks for both teams saw James Maddison fire a long way over the bar at one end before Cunha was a lot closer at the other, before both sides scored in quick succession in the final five minutes.

First, a Bergvall corner was headed back by Ben Davies, Romero’s header was tipped onto the bar by Jose Sa and Richarlison was there to poke home from a yard out to make it 3-2, but any hopes we had of salvaging a draw were wiped out immediately. Bergvall was caught in possession by Cunha midway inside our own half and the Wolves forward skipped past Davies’ challenge before confidently tucking his shot into the bottom corner of Vicario’s net to seal our fate on the afternoon.

Match data

Goals: Wolves – Ait-Nouri 2, Spence (OG) 38, Strand Larsen 64, Cunha 86; Spurs – Tel 59, Richarlison 85.

Yellow cards: Wolves – Toti; Spurs – Bissouma, Davies.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.

Venue: Molineux Stadium.

Weather: Light cloud, gentle breeze, 13 degrees.

Attendance: 31,463.