It wasn’t pretty. It was almost disastrous. But Tottenham Hotspur finally, FINALLY picked up their first league win in the calendar year of 2026, gutting out a 1-0 win away at Wolverhampton Wanderers thanks to a late tap-in goal from Joao Palhinha. Spurs frantically held on from a late Wolves charge to hang on for a win that, while significant for obvious reasons, merely allowed them to keep pace in the relegation fight.
It’s impossible to talk about this match without talking about the OTHER match that took place concurrently — West Ham hosted Everton, and after Kiernan Dewsberry-Hall leveled the score late in that match Spurs ever so briefly escaped the relegation zone. But West Ham scored the winner in extra time, so despite the win, Spurs remain in 18th place, two points behind the Hammers with four games to play.
The Spurs match was ugly, and very nearly went off the rails. Antonin Kinsky made a gargantuan leaping save off a Wolves free kick late in the game to preserve the win and the clean sheet, and Tottenham had two players — Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons — subbed off with injuries. Of the two, Xavi’s looked the most significant as he appeared to do his knee, and I’d be shocked if he plays again this season. Dom’s status is unknown.
This was an aggravating and horrible game to watch, but a win is a win. Spurs haven’t gotten many of them this season, so it’s important to celebrate it.
God, what an awful match. Apart from the goal, Spurs barely mustered any chances despite 11 shots. This against the worst team in the league that had already been relegated. It was not pretty.
Roberto De Zerbi has a style of play that he wants to play, but right now he does not have the players to implement it. The front line was near catastrophically poor today.
Randal Kolo Muani had some bright moments early in the first half where he appeared to be successfully doing wingery things on the wing, but he fell off sharply late and was rightfully hooked at halftime. Mathys Tel, his replacement, was scrappy if ineffective. I’d like to see Tel get more minutes in what matches we have left.
It’s weird, but Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma are clearly our best midfield pairing under RDZ, and both of those guys I wanted Spurs to sell this past summer. (I still think we should sell both of them this summer and get players who can pass.)
I was flabbergasted by the decision to replace Xavi with Joao Palhinha in a match where Spurs needed a goal. I’m sorry, Joao — I was unfamiliar with your game.
Once again, Anthony Taylor put in a horrific officiating performance that was biased against Tottenham. There was a penalty against Richarlison that was not given (and instead was given as a foul BY Richy) and the Gomes tackle on Bissouma not being given as a red card was egregious. If that were a Spurs player making that tackle, it’s a red card all day.. How does this keep happening to us? (But at least it’s not as bad as the uncalled handball in the box in the WHU-Everton match)
Was pleased with Richarlison’s performance after he came on. Didn’t get a lot of service but he pressed like crazy and was chasing down every ball. Would’ve had a goal too if not for Matt Doherty’s glancing header late in the second half.
This is a team that seemingly has forgotten how to win games, so winning this one, ugly as it was, was hugely significant. We do need another team to beat West Ham and do us a solid (or two) and the win is tempered by the fact that we only kept pace with the Hammers, but it’s important to take what small pleasures we can from this season. It’s okay to celebrate this win.
Spurs’ run-in: @Villa, vs. Leeds, @Chelsea, vs. Everton. West Ham’s run-in: @Brentford, vs. Arsenal, @Newcastle, vs. Leeds. This one could go down to the wire, potentially. Or maybe we get put out of our misery soon. We’ll see.