A Harry Kane header ensured that Tottenham continued their unbeaten start to the Premier League with a narrow 1-0 win over Wolves in north London.
A Heung-Min Son corner was flicked on at the near post by Ivan Perisic, finding an unmarked Kane who stooped low to head home from four yards out and net what proved to be the decisive goal in a game that the visitors will consider themselves unlucky to have come away with nothing from.
HARRY KANE! 💥
His 2️⃣5️⃣0️⃣th goal for Tottenham puts them ahead against Wolves 💪 pic.twitter.com/Q8LYRj1CC9
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) August 20, 2022
Wolves dominated the ball for much of the first half, with new signings Matheus Nunes and Goncalo Guedes both impressing on debut, but fell into old habits as their goal-shy forwards continued to fire blanks.
Despite having much of the ball, they could not create the sort of chances that would punish Tottenham, and it always felt as though a moment of quality would settle the game one way or another.
And Kane, who netted his 250th Premier League goal, provided it. It left Wolves with nothing, and took Spurs top of the Premier League for the moment ahead of the afternoon kick offs.
Here’s how 101 rated the players on show.
📰 Table Of Contents
Tottenham Hotspur FC
Despite Wolves’ first-half dominance, the Spurs keeper had little to do and was largely untroubled.
Emerson Royal – 5
Had a lot of the ball but did little with it and continued to show why an upgrade there was necessary this summer.
Eric Dier – 6
Saw plenty of the ball in the first half. Was fortunate that Jimenez didn’t punish him for a misjudgement in the second. Strong in the air for the lilywhites.
Davinson Sanchez – 6
Tottenham didn’t miss Romero defensively, which was a tick in the Colombian’s notebook. Lacks Romero’s driving runs to open the game up, however.
Ben Davies – 6
Solid and dependable, Davies didn’t really put a foot wrong all game.
Ivan Perisic – 7
Quiet in the first half but got a good flick on for Harry Kane’s goal and found increasing amounts of space to run into in the second. End product was missing, however.
Rodrigo Bentancur – 5
Solid but unspectacular, he and Hojbjerg lost the midfield battle to the Wolves trio in the first half.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6
A quiet afternoon for the Dane in the first half, was vastly improved in the second.
Dejan Kulusevski – 5
Like much of the Tottenham side, improved in the second half. Was given more space and put in some delicious crosses that went begging.
Harry Kane – 6
Was quiet for much of the game but, as he so often did, the Englishman found space to pop up with a crucial goal.
Heung-Min Son – 4
His biggest contribution in the first half was a terrible corner kick. Better in the second, but still ineffective.
Substitutes
Richarlison – 7
Some neat footwork and a lovely run got spurs up the pitch, and he certainly staked his claim to start next week.
Ryan Sessegnon – 6
Asked to defend against Adama Traore, and did so well when he came on.
Yves Bissouma – N/A
Was not on the pitch long enough to warrant a rating.
Wolves
Jose Sa – 6
Didn’t have a lot to do aside from picking the ball out of the net.
Jonny Otto – 6
Made a great clearance in the second half but was left exposed by Pedro Neto tiring as he faced Ivan Perisic.
Max Kilman – 6
Another strong outing for the Englishman, who looked largely untroubled for much of the 90.
Nathan Collins – 6
Tidy on the ball and organised off it, but lost Harry Kane for the all-important goal, undoing all of his good work.
Rayan Ait-Nouri – 5
Was solid for the first half, but lost Ivan Perisic for the corner and was taken off after an hour
Ruben Neves – 7
Solid in the centre of midfield, and made a vital late challenge on Richarlison to prevent him from doubling the Tottenham lead.
Joao Moutinho – 7
Continued to demonstrate that he can still shine at the top level even at 35 years old. Was Wolves’ top performer in the first half.
Matheus Nunes – 7
A good opening outing in Wolves colours for Nunes, who was strong on the ball and added another dimension to Bruno Lage’s side.
Goncalo Guedes – 6
Started brightly in tandem with Podence, but faded as the game wore on. A promising debut.
Pedro Neto – 6
Was bright going forwards in the first half but allowed Ivan Perisic far too much space in the second and was taken off midway through.
Daniel Podence – 6
Showed signs of striking up a good relationship with new signing Guedes, but was kept relatively quiet by the Tottenham back three in his unfamiliar false 9 position.
Substitutes
Raul Jimenez – 5
Fed off scraps when coming on, and couldn’t really influence the game.
Leandro Dendonker – 5
Offered little when coming on.
Adama Traore – 5
Came on at right wing-back but was largely ineffective
Nelson Semedo – 5
Like Traore, struggled upon coming on in the second half.
Hwang hee-Chan – N/A
Came on for the final ten minutes, did not do enough to warrant a rating.
