Tottenham 0-2 Wolves: Player ratings as Spurs drop to 8th with shock defeat
By Sean Walsh
From Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - Tottenham's top-four hopes suffered another major blow following a shocking 2-0 loss at home to Wolves, with the visitors leapfrogging them in the Premier League table.
After their dreadful 3-2 defeat against Southampton on Wednesday, Spurs needed a strong performance and result here, but were poor once again and have dropped to eighth in the standings.
The visitors went ahead after six minutes when Hugo Lloris twice failed to clear a Wolves free-kick before the ball fell kindly to the unmarked Raul Jimenez, who lashed a shot into the top corner.
Spurs' first big chance of the game came when full debutant Rodrigo Bentancur slipped through Son Heung-min, but he was unable to take the ball cleanly in his stride and his resulting shot trickled into the arms of Jose Sa.
And they were made to pay when Lloris and Ben Davies again failed to clear their lines, with the ball eventually falling to Leander Dendoncker to bury from close range.
Kane came close to responding moments later but his shot from distance sailed over, while Jimenez forced Lloris into a flying save on the 20-minute mark.
Antonio Conte was not happy with his side and after 28 minutes he opted to hook Ryan Sessegnon for Dejan Kulusevski as Spurs tweaked their setup.
A quick counter saw Son feed Kane, but Romain Saiss made an excellent recovery challenge at the last to deny the England captain.
Another error from Davinson Sanchez nearly cost Spurs a third goal, but Lloris was quick off his line to smother the advancing Jimenez.
Sa twice denied Kane before the hour mark as Tottenham tried to claw their way back into the contest, while Harry Winks had a deflected effort strike the upright and Kulusevski saw a half-volley roll the wrong side of the post.
Romero and Kane went close late on but Spurs ultimately didn't ask enough questions of Wolves, who return to Molineux with a deserved three points.
Tottenham player ratings
1. Goalkeeper & defenders
Hugo Lloris (GK) - 1/10 - At fault for both goals. Made some other saves but the damage had been done.
Davinson Sanchez (CB) - 3/10 - Never knew when to clear and when to play from the back.
Cristian Romero (CB) - 5/10 - The least self-destructive of Spurs' backline.
Ben Davies (CB) - 2/10 - Similar to Sanchez, except in his case it lead to a Wolves goal.
2. Wing-backs & midfielders
Matt Doherty (RWB) - 3/10 - Played with so little adventure yet also little competence.
Harry Winks (CM) - 2/10 - A string of errant passes and decisions saw Winks become the pantomime villain of the afternoon. Improved after the break, at least.
Rodrigo Bentancur (CM) - 5/10 - Wasn't always successful but at least he tried to break Wolves down.
Ryan Sessegnon (LWB) - 4/10 - The victim of a tactical switch. Wasn't that bad in his 28 minutes.
3. Forwards
Lucas Moura (RW) - 3/10 - Lucas is rarely ever somewhere between tremendous and terrible. Today he was further towards the latter on that spectrum.
Harry Kane (CF) - 4/10 - Helped Spurs advance up the pitch when dropping deep but didn't look as threatening as he needed to be.
Son Heung-min (LW) - 4/10 - Probably the most dangerous of Spurs' attackers, but that isn't saying much.
4. Substitutes
Dejan Kulusevski (AM, 28' for Sessegnon) - 4/10 - Was tidy on the ball but needed to have more impetus.
Steven Bergwijn (RW, 71' for Lucas) - 4/10
Emerson Royal (RB, 82' for Doherty) - N/A
Wolves player ratings
5. Goalkeeper & defenders
Jose Sa (GK) - 6/10 - Easily dealt with all that was thrown at him though did nearly gift Spurs a goal in injury time.
Max Kilman (CB) - 7/10 - Marshalled Son well for the most part.
Conor Coady (CB) - 7/10 - Dominant in the air and didn't allow Kane to have the ball in dangerous areas.
Romain Saiss (CB) - 8/10 - Made a few key tackles and recoveries, squashing Lucas.
6. Wing-backs & midfielders
Nelson Semedo (RWB) - 7/10 - Showed Doherty how a wing-back is really supposed to play.
Leander Dendoncker (CM) - 7/10 - Bulldozed his way through midfield and slammed home Wolves' second.
Ruben Neves (CM) - 7/10 - Just quite obviously more comfortable on the ball than his Spurs counterparts.
Luke Cundle (CM) - 6/10 - Didn't look overawed on his first Premier League start
Rayan Ait-Nouri (LWB) - 4/10 - The Frenchman made a few errors and it was a surprise he wasn't targeted more often.
7. Forwards
Daniel Podence (CF) - 6/10 - Generally a nuisance, as he tends to be whenever he's at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Raul Jimenez (CF) - 7/10 - Took his early goal well and that eased the pressure of having to carry a 90-minute load.
8. Substitutes
Hwang Hee-Chan (CF, 81' for Podence) - N/A
Francisco Trincao (RW, 84' for Cundle) - N/A
Fabio Silva (CF, 86' for Jimenez) - N/A
