Jorgen Strand Larsen's late leveller extended Vitor Pereira's unbeaten start at Wolverhampton Wanderers to three matches, while the 2-2 draw at Tottenham Hotspur further increased the pressure on the hosts' head coach Ange Postecoglou.
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Postecoglou may have been fearing the worst when Hwang Hee-chan's seventh-minute opener put Wolves ahead at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, but Rodrigo Bentancur levelled five minutes later.
Although Son Heung-min saw his 43rd-minute penalty saved by Jose Sa, Spurs took the lead anyway through Brennan Johnson – who won the spot-kick – in a chaotic ending to the first half.
However, Strand Larsen – introduced at half-time in place of in-form Matheus Cunha, who seemed to have suffered a knee injury – latched onto Rayan Ait-Nouri's pass before firing into the roof of the net to snatch a point with just three minutes of normal time remaining.
A third straight league outing without victory leaves Spurs 11th in the table, while 17th-placed Wolves are two points clear of the bottom three.
How the match unfolded
A well-worked free-kick routine brought Wolves their opener, Hwang receiving a pass from Ait-Nouri before arrowing his finish into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box.
Spurs levelled when Bentancur lost his marker and rose highest to thump a header from Pedro Porro's corner past Sa, who then proved a penalty hero for Pereira's side.
Sa guessed the right way to keep out Son's spot-kick towards the top-left corner after Andre had clumsily felled the marauding Johnson.
But Postecoglou's team would not be denied in the third minute of first-half stoppage time – Dejan Kulusevski powered into the area before offloading for Johnson to sweep home from close range.
Kulusevski later saw an effort cleared off the line by Santiago Bueno, and that miss came back to haunt Spurs when Larsen found space from Ait-Nouri's incisive pass and hammered past Fraser Forster from a tight angle.
Spurs’ unhappy Christmas
Speculation has grown over Postecoglou's future after Spurs were beaten by Liverpool and narrowly edged out by Nottingham Forest in the last week, and he did not get the morale-boosting victory he needed today.
It came as no surprise when Hwang swept past Forster as Spurs conceded the opening goal at home for a 15th Premier League match in 2024 – the most by any side in a single calendar year in the competition's history.
Their response was encouraging, however, as Porro's corner found Bentancur before Radu Dragusin headed just wide from the same set-piece routine soon after.
After Johnson's goal, Spurs should have gone on to see out the match.
However, another injury blow for Postecoglou came as Destiny Udogie limped off with a muscle issue early in the second half, and that misery was further compounded when Spurs' slack defending was punished by Strand Larsen.
Pape Sarr could still have snatched a late winner, but he turned Kulusevski's cross wide, leaving Postecoglou – with just one win in seven league matches – desperately needing improvements when his side host Newcastle United next Saturday.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
19 | +6 | 30 |
| 8 |
Fulham
FUL
|
19 | +3 | 29 |
| 9 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
19 | -3 | 29 |
| 10 |
Brighton
BHA
|
19 | +1 | 27 |
| 11 |
Spurs
TOT
|
19 | +13 | 24 |
| 12 |
Brentford
BRE
|
18 | 0 | 24 |
Wolves escape but defensive improvements needed
Pereira has enjoyed a brilliant start to life at Wolves after back-to-back wins over Leicester City and Manchester United, and now this hard-fought point at Spurs.
Cunha scored in both of those wins, and played a part in Wolves' opener after winning the right-sided free-kick that Ait-Nouri rolled short for Hwang to score.
The Brazilian forward fired just wide from long distance shortly after Wolves' set-piece issues had been exposed once more for Bentancur's equaliser, and those troubles were almost punished again when Dragusin nodded narrowly off target.
Cunha's long-range strike narrowly evaded the top-left corner with the scores level, though Wolves had no answer to a barrage of pressure that brought Son's penalty failure before Johnson's routine finish from close range.
Cunha's injury meant Larsen came on, and that change paid off when the towering striker scored late on, while Wolves could have stolen all three points if not for Forster keeping out Matt Doherty's late header.
Strand Larsen's introduction serves a timely reminder of the attacking talent at Pereira's disposal but defensive issues – largely from set-pieces – need correcting ahead of Wolves hosting in-form Nottingham Forest at Molineux next Monday.
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Key facts
Spurs conceded the opening goal at home in the Premier League for the 15th time in 2024, the most a side has done so in a single year in the competition.
Brennan Johnson scored his 11th goal for Spurs this season in all competitions, his most for a Premier League side in all competitions in a campaign, besting his 10 with Nottingham Forest in 2022/23.
Wolves have now conceded 10 goals from corners in the Premier League this season, the most of any side.
Indeed, it’s the 17th goal they’ve conceded from a corner in the competition in 2024, the joint-most in a calendar year in the competition, along with Swansea City in 2016 and Manchester United this year.