Summary Wolves secure an impressive comeback win against Spurs, with late goals from Sarabia and Lemina sealing the victory. Mario Lemina shines in midfield for Wolves, winning duels and contributing both defensively and offensively. Another player, however, goes unnoticed but plays a crucial role in Wolves' defensive solidity, redeeming himself after an early mistake.
Gary O'Neil's exceptional start to life in the Molineux dug-out continues, Wolverhampton Wanderers leaving it late to turn around a one goal deficit on their own patch to sink Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham to a second straight defeat in league action after previously going unbeaten in ten.
Spurs had stood firm for most of the contest, hanging onto the three points valiantly before O'Neil's warriors fought bravely to win at the death – Pablo Sarabia hammering home in the first minute of additional time, before the Spaniard turned from goalscorer to provider for Mario Lemina to coolly tuck away his opportunity in the 97th minute under immense pressure.
Both Lemina and Sarabia stood out from a Wolves perspective, alongside Matheus Cunha who immediately bounced from a less than satisfactory personal display versus Sheffield United with an assist to help his side to the narrow win. The Brazilian had three shots in the contest too per Sofascore, but was unable to add further gloss to the Old Gold's 2-1 victory.
Mario Lemina's stats vs Tottenham
The Old Gold needed a new star man centrally after Ruben Neves departed the club this summer for Al-Hilal, and they might well have found their new leader in midfield in Lemina after his excellent display versus Spurs.
The former Southampton man has been embraced by his new set of supporters ever since landing in the west Midlands, all over the Molineux turf against Spurs to help out in defence whilst also contributing further forward as a hard-to-contain, full-throttle presence.
Wolves' number five won seven of his attempted nine ground duels, alongside seeing four of his five long balls come off accurately to push his team further forward to pull off an unthinkable comeback win as per Sofascore.
Heralded as putting in a "world-class" performance from the centre of the park by some on social media, the cherry on top for the Gabon international was his last-gasp strike winning O'Neil's men all three points – the 30-year-old's effort trickling in past Guglielmo Vicario in the opposing goal.
Lemina's contributions are stealing the headlines from this encounter, but it's Wolves centre-back Toti Gomes who is going under the radar with his resolute defending giving the Old Gold a platform to snatch three points from.
Toti Gomes' stats vs Tottenham
Labelled as a "colossus" for his resolute efforts containing a plethora of dangerous opposing attacking players by Manny Singh of Wolves' official foundation, the Portuguese titan did all the dirty work necessary to help his side push on.
Wolves' number 24 won all five of his attempted ground and aerial duels in the contest, on top of clearing, blocking and intercepting everything that came his way to give O'Neil's Old Gold a reliable brick wall at the heart of defence alongside equally impressive defensive teammates Max Kilman and Craig Dawson.
It was a performance that required mental fortitude, Gomes arguably at fault for Brennan Johnson's opening goal after three minutes – the 6 foot 2 presence hesitant to close a long pass to the channels, resulting in Pedro Porro teeing up the ex Nottingham Forest man to open his Spurs account and the scoring at Molineux.
Yet, Gomes stayed strong which is a positive trait racing through Wolves' collective veins this campaign. This isn't the first time Wolves have won late on under their new boss – winning in the 88th minute on the South Coast versus AFC Bournemouth in a previous outing – and it certainly won't be the last.
With Gomes in defence, Wolves have a formidable centre-back option and a player who will soon gain more vocal plaudits if he performs in similar fashion as he did against Spurs in contests to come.
