Wolverhampton Wanderers scored three goals in the final quarter of the match to beat Premier League title challengers Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors trailed to a long-range strike from Harry Kane with a little under 20 minutes to play at Wembley Stadium.
Making the most of Tottenham's defensive tactics, Wolves hit back through Willy Boly, Raul Jimenez and Helder Costa to snatch all three points.
Relive how the 90 minutes of action unfolded with Sports Mole's live text coverage below.
Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League meeting between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Wembley Stadium. The home side climbed up to second place in the table with their 5-0 win over Bournemouth here on Boxing Day and can now move to within three points of the summit ahead of Liverpool's meeting with Arsenal this evening.
Wolves have also enjoyed a good first half to the season, finding themselves on 26 points at the midway stage in proceedings - already one point more than they managed in the whole of their last campaign at this level. Seventh place is very much in sight for last term's Championship winners, which was the ambitious target set before a ball was kicked this term. A victory today and they may have to aim even higher.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR TEAM NEWS!
STARTING XI: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies; Sissoko, Winks, Dele; Eriksen; Son, Kane
SUBS: Gazzaniga, Rose, Nkoudou, Walker-Peters, Foyth, Lucas, Skipp
Starting with a look at the home team, Mauricio Pochettino has made four changes on the back of the 5-0 win over Bournemouth here three days ago. Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies return at full-back, while Davinson Sanchez is also drafted into a much-changed backline - only Toby Alderweireld keeps his place from last time out. Kyle Walker-Peters, Juan Foyth and Danny Rose all drop down to the bench.
The other change comes in an attacking position as Dele Alli has passed a late fitness test and takes over from Lucas Moura, who is also included among the subs. Dele injured his hamstring in the demolition of Everton last weekend and was forced to sit out the win over Bournemouth, but he is back involved today and will likely start alongside Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko in a midfield three.
Harry Kane is being kept off the top of the scoring charts by Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and he will be desperate to end the most magical year of his life - culminating in his New Year's Honour gong - with a goal or two today. Son Heung-min also retains his place alongside him, largely due to the absence of Erik Lamela today because of an injury issue, while Christian Eriksen is another to remain in the starting lineup during this hectic run of fixtures.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS TEAM NEWS!
STARTING XI: Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Dendoncker, Neves, Jonny; Cavaleiro, Traore; Jimenez
SUBS: Ruddy, Costa, Gibbs-White, Saiss, Moutinho, Vinagre, Bonatini
Switching focus to the visitors, there are three changes from the 1-1 draw with Fulham on Boxing day - including a first Premier League start for Leander Dendoncker. The Belgian midfielder has amassed just nine minutes of top-flight action since arriving in the summer, with his only other appearances coming in the early stages of the EFL Cup. Joao Moutinho is given a breather, taking up a place on the bench.
Ivan Cavaleiro and Ruben Neves are also brought back into the starting lineup from that Fulham match a few days ago, taking over from Morgan Gibbs-White and Romain Saiss, who scored a late equaliser at Craven Cottage. Saiss and Gibbs-White are also included alongside Mourinho on the bench, with Nuno Espirito Santo simply wanting to freshen things up - always important at this point in the season.
Nuno confirmed at his pre-match press conference that Diogo Jota is still not yet fit to return to action, a couple of weeks on from picking up an injury in the 2-0 win over Bournemouth, while Kortney Hause - who has struggled with illness over the past week - is another notable absentee from the squad today. The headline news, though, is that Dendoncker is handed his first Premier League start, more than four months after arriving at Molineux.
Tottenham Hotspur make four changes on the back of their thumping 5-0 victory against Bournemouth here, with three of those alterations coming in the backline. There is news of a few changes for Wolverhampton Wanderers, meanwhile, including a first Premier League start for summer signing Leander Dendoncker.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS! Tottenham Hotspur have just lost two of their previous nine Premier League meetings with Wolverhampton Wanderers and are without defeat in the last five of those, stretching back to a 1-0 loss at Molineux nearly nine years ago. Taking all competitions into account, meanwhile, Wanderers have picked up victory on only two of their past 12 visits to Tottenham.
Despite suffering what many described as a crisis earlier in the season, when losing a few games on the spin to see their campaign crumble before them, Tottenham are looking in a very strong position at the midway point in proceedings. The Lilywhites are into the last 16 of the Champions League, have an EFL Cup semi-final to look forward to and, perhaps most impressive of all, sit above Manchester City in second place in the Premier League.
Spurs are a point better off that the champions, who many believe are - were? - the greatest Premier League side of all time. City's back-to-back defeats at the hands of Crystal Palace and Leicester City either side of Christmas came as a huge shock, and both Tottenham and Liverpool have profited from the rare slip-up. Liverpool may have a healthy lead at the top, but Spurs will not give up hope of catching them over the next five months.
Liverpool face Arsenal in today's late kickoff and then return to action next week with a trip to Man City, so Tottenham could easily draw level on points with the leaders in the coming days. Even finishing second would go down as a massive achievement, even if Tottenham risk being ridiculed by supporters of opposition sides due to their lack of tangible success, though that could still change as Pochettino's men have a chance of lifting silverware in the EFL Cup, FA Cup and Champions League.
Tottenham have won five matches in a row since going down 4-2 to Arsenal at the start of the month, edging past Southampton, Leicester City and Burnley, before crushing Everton and Bournemouth. Spurs scored 11 goals across those two matches and will be looking to add to that tally today, though Wolves are by no means going to simply roll over and allow the country's second-best side to add three more points to their tally.
Pochettino's side have won 12 of their last 14 matches in all competitions, with a 1-1 draw at Barcelona - enough to see them join the Catalan side in the last 16 of the Champions League at Inter Milan's expense - included in that run. Only pacesetters Liverpool have been in better form in the Premier League during the busiest period of the season, and now the aim is to keep this positive momentum building into the New Year.
That momentum could come in handy as, following a winnable trip to strugglers Cardiff City on New Year's Day and an FA Cup tie with Tranmere Rovers, Tottenham turn focus to Chelsea and Manchester United here in quick succession in the league and cup. There is also a return tie with Chelsea before January is out, so there really is a huge month to come for the Lilywhites. Six points from six to round off the festive and New Year period would be ideal.
Tottenham's tally of 45 points from 19 matches is their best return at the midway point of a Premier League campaign, further highlighting the incredible work Pochettino has carried out with one hand tied behind his back. The Lilywhites are without a draw so far this season in the top flight - the last side to go on a longer-such run in the competition were Burnley in 1953-54 when going 27 matches without a draw.
DID YOU KNOW? After beating Everton 6-2 and Bournemouth 5-0 over the past week, Tottenham Hotspur could equal the Premier League record of scoring at least five goals in three consecutive fixtures, set by Chelsea between May and August 2010 and Manchester City in September 2017.
Tottenham have won 27 league games in 2018, making this their second-most successful year ever in that regard. Only in 1960, when winning 31 times, have they enjoyed a better top-flight return. If the Lilywhites' form, both in terms of the past few weeks and the year as a whole, was not enough to concern Wolves, then this stat may well be. Spurs are unbeaten in their last 29 meetings with newly-promoted clubs, dropping points just three times since a 1-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers in April 2012.
Tottenham Hotspur are flying high at the top end of the Premier League, finding themselves in second place and within six points of leaders Liverpool, who face tough games against Arsenal and Manchester City over the next five days. The Lilywhites were given little hope of challenging for the title, but with half of the season played they are as well positioned as ever.
Wolves have taken just one point from six over the festive period thus far, coming in a late 1-1 draw with basement boys Fulham through a late Saiss goal, five days on from losing 2-0 to Liverpool on home soil. That was preceded by a run of nine points from nine, however, as Wanderers won three matches in a row for the first time in their Premier League history. With 19 games played, their tally of 26 points is already more than they managed in the whole of the 2011-12 season when relegated.
The recent win over Chelsea was another example of how dangerous Wolves can be against the division's elite sides, having also taken points off both Manchester clubs and Arsenal this term. In fact, only claiming a point from their trip to the Emirates Stadium can be considered a huge disappointment in hindsight, as Wanderers were the better side and really should have done more with their chances.
Wolves now face Spurs, Liverpool and Man City in three of their next four matches - that home match against the Reds in the FA Cup third round - so they have more opportunities to prove their worth against the real big boys of the division. Last season's Championship winners certainly do not lack ambition, and should they win today they may well find themselves positioned one place outside the top six.
Nuno's men have won three of their nine away matches this season and now require just one more victory on their travels to match their best-ever return in the Premier League, set in 2009-10. This will be Wolves' first trip to Wembley Stadium since May 1988 when beating Burnley 2-0 in the Football League Trophy final through goals from Andy Mutch and Robbie Dennison. This trip to the national stadium really has been a long time coming.
With kickoff in the English capital now less than 10 minutes away, let us check out some pre-match thoughts from both camps.
Mauricio Pochettino: "We need to prepare not only physically but also our minds to be strong because it's going to be tough to compete in the second half of the season. It's so important for the team that we are fighting and in a very good position. We were talking that last season was a fantastic season. Now we're in four competitions when last season we were in three because we were out of the Carabao Cup."
Nuno Espirito Santo: "We've played already many games against top teams where we have shown that we don't change our identity. We are trying to build something, so when you try to build you do not look at the game like, what is the best way to get a result. We've shown in previous games that we attack, we have shots on goals against heavy teams, even so the building process goes this way so the way we approach against Tottenham is going to be the same."
Pochettino concedes that it will be "tough" to maintain his sides levels across the second half of the season, but the good news for the Lilywhites is that they are well positioned with less than five months of the season to play. The EFL Cup remains an immediate priority, offering the chance to finally add some more silverware to the cabinet, though the Champions League and Premier League are the longer-term targets.
Nuno is adamant that he will not change is tactics no matter who the opposition, maintaining that stance even when his side could not pick up a win not so long ago. Wanderers have been superb against the division's elite clubs since earning promotion back to the big time, taking points off Man City, Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea, as well as giving Tottenham a real scare in the reverse fixture in November. Could another surprise result be on the cards today?
Wolves have scored 75% of their 20 Premier League goals in the second half of games this season - the highest proportion in the top flight. Interestingly, none of their goals have come from an English player, meaning that Matt Jarvis is the last Englishman to net for them in the top flight nearly seven years ago. Not that Nuno will care - his side are on course to achieving their target for the season, and this will be seen as another chance for Wanderers to show the world exactly what they are capable of.
KICKOFF: Tottenham Hotspur, now considered serious contenders for the Premier League title, get us up and running at Wembley Stadium. Trippier gets forward and earns his side a corner inside the opening 60 seconds.
The Tottenham corner comes to little, but this has been a bright start from the hosts. Wolves were three goals down inside an hour when the sides last faced off, remember, and Spurs are clearly keen to race out of sight today.
Dendoncker and Sissoko bang knees and both players are down on the field. Dendoncker has had to wait over four months for this first Premier League start - how unfortunate it would be if it was to end with just five minutes played.
Sissoko seems fine to continue but Dendoncker is struggling, having to be helped to the sidelines. Nuno is not going to make a sub just yet as the Belgium international is desperate to play on. One to keep an eye on.
SHOT! A nice little spin from Son 25 yards from goal, but his shot is not hit cleanly and the ball ends well wide of Patricio's goal in the end. A promising moment for Tottenham, who have been the better side in the opening nine minutes.
Traore, selected today for his pace in behind, charges down the right flank but runs the ball out of play. Not sure if a 10-second period of play has ever summed up a player so much...
Kane refuses to give up possession as he carries the ball to the edge of the penalty area, and he wins a free kick from Jonny who should not have bitten. A promising position for Tottenham, this, with Trippier among those stood over the ball.
SAVE! Trippier manages to get the ball up and over the wall, but it was on Patricio's side and the Portuguese goalkeeper has a comfortable save to make. That is the first shot on target this afternoon.
Dele makes a good run in behind but is forced away from goal. The tempo is a little slow at the moment, which is suiting Wolves just fine. The onus is very much on Tottenham to find the breakthrough goal.
PENALTY APPEAL! Traore's most promising moment of the match so far as he gets a cross in from the right that hits Davies on the arm and goes behind for a corner. Wolves wanted a penalty, but there was not enough distance between the ball and the player.
YELLOW CARD! Davies, perhaps a tad fortunate not to concede a penalty a couple of minutes ago, lunges in on Doherty and rightly earns the first booking of the contest.
SHOT! Spurs just starting to step things up a little now. Son plays the ball across to the left and Eriksen opts to curl it first time towards the far corner, but it has a little too much on it and sails over the crossbar. That was a good, flowing move.
SAVE! This is a superb save from Patricio! Son's belter hits Sissoko in the face, but Dele gets to the loose ball first and tees it up for Eriksen, whose delicate shot was heading for the top corner if not for Patricio's fingertips. Kane could not quite find the target from the resulting corner.
GOAL! TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1-0 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (HARRY KANE)
Patricio produced a fantastic save to keep out Eriksen a couple of minutes ago, but he could not stop this one from Kane. It was a goal of the highest quality, with the England international cutting inside from the right and sending the ball flying past Patricio from 25 yards. Boly should have got tighter to his man.
There are not many teams more dangerous than Tottenham in the final third. That Kane goal emphasises that point perfectly, as there did not really appear to be anything on for the Englishman when he picked up the ball on his weaker left foot.
A great recovery challenge from Sanchez prevents Wolves from getting in behind. The visitors have enjoyed their best spell of possession so far since going a goal behind, but they have yet to test Lloris.
CLOSE! Son nearly goes one better than Kane with this attempt from range, which sails inches over the crossbar. The South Korean then got behind a minute later, but he could not connect with the ball over the top.
Wanderers have won plenty of corners in the opening half an hour or so of the match, but they are not making the most of these set-piece opportunities. This latest corner is half-cleared to Neves, who horribly miscues his shot from 25 yards.
Dele's touch inside the box is a little heavy, otherwise he would have had a clean shot at goal. Tottenham are having plenty of nearly moments, but they have been unable to test Patricio since Kane's shot flew into the top corner.
A good interception from Coady prevents Son from getting on the end of Kane's return pass inside the box. Ten minutes of the first half to play and Tottenham look the more likely to score the game's second goal.
It has not been a great half of football for Wolves, in truth. The visitors are not like an ordinary newly-promoted side in a sense that they are now expected to travel to Wembley and really offer up a fight, but they are struggling to keep their foot on the ball.
Five minutes of the first half to play and the tempo has dropped again - not surprising at the end of what has been a challenging month for both sides in terms of the amount of fixtures. Kane's strike 22 minutes in separates the sides.
Tottenham remain in complete control of the match, though Pochettino's men could do with a second goal to give themselves some breathing space. Wolves, with just one point from their last six, will surely offer a lot more in the second half.
YELLOW CARD! Brilliant from Traore, who holds off Dele, runs away from the Englishman and then glides past Eriksen. Eriksen takes one for the team by tripping Traore, becoming the second Tottenham player to be shown a yellow card in this first half.
Another good spell for Tottenham, culminating in a shot from Winks flying well wide of the target. We are into the first of two added-on minutes at the end of a pretty low-key first half at Wembley Stadium.
HALF TIME: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1-0 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Tottenham head into half time with a one-goal lead thanks to Kane's long-range strike a quarter of the way through the match. The Lilywhites have been on top and are good value for their lead, with Wolves yet to muster a serious shot of note.
Going in search of a seventh successive win under the famous arch, Tottenham started well and came close through shots from Son Heung-min and Kieran Trippier, the latter testing Rui Patricio with his free kick from 25 yards. It was from a similar range that Christian Eriksen was denied by Patricio from a fine fingertip stop 20 minutes in, shortly after the same player curled one inches over the crossbar
Patricio could not get enough to the ball to keep out Harry Kane's shot from his weaker left boot, though, with the Englishman cutting in from out wide and guiding the ball into the far corner for his 157th goal in Tottenham colours. Son nearly went one better than Kane with his attempt from further out before the first half was over, marginally missing the target as Spurs went through the motions.
Wanderers, who had earlier had a penalty shout rejected when Adama Traore's cross hit Ben Davies on the arm, felt that the goal should have been ruled out because of a foul from Harry Winks in the build-up to Kane's strike. The visitors have been below par in the opening 45 minutes, but the bottom line is that they are still right in this contest.
BENCH WATCH!
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR SUBS: Gazzaniga, Rose, Nkoudou, Walker-Peters, Foyth, Lucas, Skipp
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS SUBS: Ruddy, Costa, Gibbs-White, Saiss, Moutinho, Vinagre, Bonatini
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KICKOFF: We are back underway at Wembley Stadium, where neither manager has made any changes at the interval. A big 45 minutes ahead for Tottenham, who will claw to within three points of league leaders Liverpool if the scoreline stays this way.
Cavaleiro leaps high to meet Traore's cross into the box, but he leads with his elbow and catches Trippier across the back of the head. There is a bit of concern for Pochettino here as the full-back is still down receiving treatment.
Trippier is OK to continue. Like in the first half with the injury to Dendoncker, who also played on, the tempo of the match has dropped pretty much from kickoff. Both managers may well look to inject some pace from their benches.
Wolves have edged things in the early stages of the second half. Traore is continuing to look a threat down the right, although - as ever - there is very little end product. Tottenham doing more than enough to keep their opponents at bay.
Coady gets to the ball in the nick of time to deny Son from racing in behind. Wanderers are already starting to take one or two more risks, knowing that they have 35 minutes to find an equaliser, which is leaving gaps at the back.
Patricio flaps at the cross under little pressure. Tottenham keep the ball moving but they cannot seem to work a shooting position at the moment. Wolves counter but Jimenez had nobody around him and Alderweireld cleans up for the hosts.
Very little goalmouth action in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. The sides are cancelling each other out at the moment and we may well see both Nuno and Pochettino turn to their respective benches in the next five minutes.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS SUB! Son gets away from Dendoncker and tees up Dele. The Englishman attempted to feed the ball back through for his teammate, but it had too much on it and Son could not keep it in place. Traore, seemingly carrying a knock, is replaced by Costa.
Pochettino is holding off from turning to his bench for now. Spurs, remember, have not lost against a newly-promoted side in 39 Premier League matches and that run does not look like ending on the basis of the previous hour here.
Probably shouldn't be too surprised by the slow-tempo feel to the match, with this being the sides' third match in the space of a week and the last in what has been a gruelling year. Still more than a quarter of the game to go and Spurs are not over the line just yet.
Tottenham appear to be happy to sit back, which is not going down too well with their supporters. There is a very strange feel to this match, which remains nicely balanced as we enter the final 25 minutes.
Cavaleiro has the chance to race in behind but Sanchez gets across well to win the ball. That is pretty much the most entertaining moment of the second half so far. The attacker then took range from further back, sending the ball well wide.
SUBS! Dele lasts close to 70 minutes on his return to action. Lucas was always the most likely option for Pochettino to turn to, and that proves to be the case. Moutinho replaces Dendoncker for the visitors.
These dangerous tactics from Tottenham appear to be working for now. The hosts are happy to sit back and soak up the pressure, and Wolves are not really getting anywhere with their numerous deliveries into the box. Doherty miscues the ball when picked out 15 yards from goal.
GOAL! TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1-1 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (WILLY BOLY)
Wolves finally make one of their crosses into the box count for something, as Boly climbs highest to send Mourinho's corner into the back of the net. The visitors have completely dominated possession and they are rewarded through this close-range header, which Lloris got a hand to but could not keep out.
That goal certainly makes things interesting. Tottenham have failed to get away a single shot in this second half - on target or otherwise - and they now have less than 15 minutes to find a second goal. Wolves will also push for a winner.
Wanderers are looking the more likely to score a winning goal. Spurs were far too defensive in the opening half an hour of the second half and now they are struggling to snap out of that mindset. The hosts are struggling to get a hold of the ball.
Sissoko gets to the byline but cannot pick out anyone in a white top. A truly massive final 10 minutes ahead for Tottenham now - they will either be within three points of Liverpool or five. That is a huge difference.
YELLOW CARD! Kane is cautioned for a dive, though the trailing leg of Cavaleiro may well have caught him. It is turning into the most frustrating of afternoons for Spurs, who now have eight minutes to edge back in front.
GOAL! TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1-2 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (RAUL JIMENEZ)
Unbelievable! Tottenham have been punished for their questionable tactics in this second half as Jimenez has just bagged a second goal for Wolves - and it had been coming. Cavaleiro passes the ball to Jimenez, who takes a couple of touches on the edge of the box, squeezes the ball through Trippier's legs and into the bottom corner. No idea how that one crept in!
GOAL! TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1-3 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (HELDER COSTA)
Insult is added to injury as Costa seals the three points for Wolves with this breakaway goal. Spurs, desperate to get back into the game, are caught out as Doherty slips the ball through for Costa to tuck past Lloris with an impressive finish.
Kane wants a penalty after being pushed to the ground before the can get his head to a cross from the left. Tottenham are not giving up but the points are surely now out of their reach following that neat finish from Costa.
Ole's are ringing out around Wembley - but it is from the away section. Who would have thought that 20 minutes ago? This has been an unbelievable turnaround from the visitors, who will move up to seventh place in the table.
FULL TIME: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1-3 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Wolverhampton Wanderers pull off yet another shock result against one of the Premier League big boys, as they come from a goal down to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at Wembley Stadium. Kane gave the home side a first-half lead, but they sat back pretty much from that point on and Wolves came away with all three points through goals from Boly, Jimenez and Costa.
That concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events from Wembley. An on-the-whistle report can be found by clicking here, and you can follow our live updates from the late kickoff between Liverpool and Arsenal right here. Thanks for joining!
