WOLVERHAMPTON — Wolverhampton Wanderers stunned Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 with stoppage-time goals from Pablo Sarabia and Mario Lemina on Saturday, thwarting the visitors in their bid to reclaim top spot in the Premier League table.
Gary O'Neil's decision to bring on Sarabia as a late substitute paid off handsomely as the Spaniard scored the equalizer in the 91st minute and provided the pass for the 97th-minute winner.
The result left Spurs second in the standings behind Manchester City, while Wolves climbed to 12th ahead of the weekend's other fixtures.
"It is an amazing feeling, we've been pushing so hard. We deserve this game," Lemina told TNT Sports.
"We had the best tactics to play against them and we showed it today. I scored the winner and I'm really happy."
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou was forced to field a makeshift back four due to injuries and suspensions, with the only regular in the starting lineup being Pedro Porro.
But the right back made an impact inside three minutes when he combined with Dejan Kulusevski to cross the ball into the box and set up 22-year-old Brennan Johnson for a tap-in from close range - his first goal for the club.
A flying start for Spurs as they grab the lead inside 2 and a half minutes! #WOLTOT
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) November 11, 2023
The first half had end-to-end action despite a lack of clear-cut chances and Wolves' best opportunity came after the half-hour mark when Lemina forced a fine reflex save from Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Wolves played positively in the second half, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Rayan Ait-Nouri successfully taking on players with the ball several times, but they lacked the quality in the final third to produce an equalizer.
Hwang Hee-Chan and Sasa Kalajdzic both saw efforts go wide as Spurs clung to their advantage, but Sarabia finally gave the home side an equalizer in the 91st minute when he expertly controlled Matheus Cunha's cross and volleyed home from an angle.
This strike from Pablo Sarabia! #WOLTOT
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) November 11, 2023
With a draw on the cards, Wolves took a quick free kick in the 97th minute and Lemina timed his run perfectly to get on the end of Sarabia's pass to stroke the ball into the bottom corner for all three points.
Mario Lemina wins it for Wolves! #WOLTOT pic.twitter.com/pZdeztsx1t
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) November 11, 2023
"It is always a tough game here. Wolves are always going to come on strong and we ran out of legs at the end," Postecoglou said.
"It is understandable, a lot of those guys haven't played. They scored a couple of good goals, a hard one to take."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
