João Gomes at the double as Wolves end Tottenham’s recent revival

They sought him here and they sought him there but even in Wolves’ scarlet away strip Tottenham’s defence twice failed to spot João Gomes as he popped up from nowhere to sink their recent revival.

Wolves’ run-and-hit tactics worked perfectly to end the five-game unbeaten run Tottenham had put together with the 5ft 9in João Gomes getting them underway just before half-time.

It was as if Tottenham’s defence could not see the would-be assassin for trees. Max Kilman and Toti were planted quite deliberately on the edge of the six-yard area like mighty oaks as worried defenders jostled them ineffectually as Pablo Sarabia waited to take the corner.

The Spanish attacker’s target, though, was sheltered in the lea of the giant central defenders and sure enough emerged to head in from the centre of a veritable clearing having been missed completely throughout the manoeuvre.

That half-time lead was no more than Wolves deserved as a Spurs performance, lacklustre despite the return of skipper Son Heung-Min to the starting lineup after his return from the Asian Cup, was too easily picked apart by the simplest of counterattacks.

As early as the sixth minute, Hwang Hee-chan should have put the visitors ahead with a bit more composure after Guglielmo Vicario could only parry Nélson Semedo’s shot into his path.

Spurs equalised just 34 seconds into the second period after Dejan Kulusevski seemed to run through Craig Dawson before slotting the ball through the legs of José Sá from the tightest of angles, but even that always seemed a temporary reprieve for a team fixed upon defensive implosion.

Vicario’s save from Sarabia’s poor shot after he was picked out by Semedo should have been a warning, but it went unheeded.

Pedro Neto was a good 10 yards inside his own half when he began his unhindered gallop towards the Tottenham goalline after 63 minutes and when he finally cut the ball back, it was the presence of João Gomes which had again gone unnoticed and he took as much time as he needed to find a path for his shot past the Spurs goalkeeper.

Ange Postecoglou’s counter-intuitive response was to take off his in-form goalscorer Richarlison and drop main playmaker James Maddison deep. Wolves remained stoically in place for whatever late blows Tottenham could throw at them.