Matheus Cunha scored on his return from suspension as Wolverhampton Wanderers made it four straight Premier League wins with a thrilling 4-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

The Brazilian made his much-anticipated comeback as a substitute after serving a four-game ban and netted the goal that put the contest beyond the visitors at Molineux.

Rayan Ait-Nouri and Jorgen Strand Larsen were also on target for Vitor Pereira’s side, while Spurs' Djed Spence put through his own net.

Mathys Tel and Richarlison struck for Ange Postecoglou's visitors, but they could not avert a 10th away league defeat of the season.

Wolves are up to 16th in the table and 14 points clear of the bottom three with just six games remaining. They are within one place and two points of Spurs in 15th.

How the match unfolded

The hosts made a flying start. Just 85 seconds were on the clock when Guglielmo Vicario punched Jean-Ricner Bellegarde's free-kick straight to Ait-Nouri, who sent a 20-yard volley bouncing into the far corner.

The Algerian's strike was Wolves’ earliest Premier League goal ever from the start of a game, a record previously held by Pablo Sarabia (109 seconds v Southampton in November this season).

Spurs almost gifted Wolves a second goal when Vicario's poor pass went straight to Marshall Munetsi, who found Strand Larsen, but he could only stab wide from close range.

However, the visitors did fall 2-0 behind in the 38th minute when Vicario pushed Ait-Nouri's cross against Spence, with the ball ricocheting into his own net.

Spurs halved the deficit after 59 minutes when Tel turned in Brennan Johnson’s cross at the far post, but another defensive lapse proved costly for Postecoglou’s side five minutes later, with Ait-Nouri pouncing on Cristian Romero’s error and squaring for Strand Larsen to tuck away.

Richarlison gave the visitors hope once again when he headed in five minutes from time, but less than two minutes later, Cunha capitalised on some loose play from Lucas Bergvall before slotting home.

Hungry like the Wolves

Wolves have hit form at an ideal time to drag themselves away from danger and are now on the verge of mathematically confirming their Premier League status for 2025/26.

Off the back of three straight wins, they did not take long to hit the front here, with Ait-Nouri capitalising after Spurs failed to deal with a free-kick, to score their fastest Premier League goal ever.

Although Spurs grew into the game, fortune was definitely on Wolves’ side for the second goal, which gave them breathing space heading into half-time, and the only negatives from their first-half display were the losses of Bellegarde and Matt Doherty to injury.

The visitors made the stronger start to the second half, but Tel’s goal sparked Wolves back into life, and their alertness led to them punishing Romero’s error for their third goal.

In tucking away Ait-Nouri’s square pass, Strand Larsen became only the second Wolves player to score in four successive Premier League games, matching the feat of Henri Camara 21 years earlier.

Cunha was subsequently introduced to a wonderful reception after four games out, and it did not take long for him to make an impact.

Moments after Richarlison narrowed the gap again, Cunha stole the ball from Bergvall and burst away from Ben Davies, before calmly sending Vicario the wrong way.

Wolves have now won four straight top-flight games for the first time since January 1972. A trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United is up next.

Spurs' wounds self-inflicted

With Spurs' UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt four days away, Postecoglou will have been looking for a positive performance from his side to build momentum.

The Australian did not get his wish, though, with the teams not even on level terms for a minute and a half.

Spurs had lost all seven of their previous Premier League away games when conceding first this season, but they responded positively. Yves Bissouma's long-range effort stung Jose Sa's palms and Johnson fired narrowly over, before Spence’s calamitous own goal.

A positive start to the second half led to Tel cutting the deficit, but it proved a false dawn for the visitors, as their defensive frailties were exposed on another two occasions.

First, Romero was robbed of possession inside his own penalty area, while Bergvall’s naïve play allowed the returning Cunha to run almost half the length of the field and put the result beyond doubt.

Spurs must quickly recover, though, as attention now turns to Frankfurt and undoubtedly the biggest game of their season, with only a positive result enough to keep them on course to salvage something from an otherwise difficult campaign.

Club reports

Wolves report | Spurs report

Match officials

Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: Gary Beswick, Wade Smith. Fourth official: Rob Jones. VAR: Michael Oliver. Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.