Two efforts from midfield maestro Joao Gomes either side of a Dejan Kulusevski equaliser propelled the visitors to another eye-catching away success in the capital, which also saw Tottenham lose their five-game home winning run and suffer three straight losses to their West Midlands foes for the very first time.
With Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie nursing injuries, Emerson Royal and Ben Davies were two of four changes made by Ange Postecoglou, who also introduced Son Heung-min and Yves Bissouma back into the XI in place of Timo Werner and Rodrigo Bentancur.
Meanwhile, Hwang Hee-chan was passed fit to deputise for stricken teammate Matheus Cunha in the Wolves attack, and the South Korean had a golden chance to break the deadlock in the sixth minute of a frenetic opening, but he cleared the crossbar after Guglielmo Vicario palmed Nelson Semedo’s strike into his path.
The visitors were carving out the most promising openings of the early exchanges on the counter-attack, but clear-cut chances were still at a premium, barring a Kulusevski attempt which flashed wide in the 36th minute.
Wolves came back into the contest as the half-time whistle approached, and Gary O’Neil’s side edged ahead in front of the away end in the 42nd minute, as Gomes leapt to meet Pablo Sarabia’s corner and directed a beautiful header just inside the post.
Gomes was criminally left unmarked on the edge of the six-yard area, and Vicario was left rooted to the spot as his header floated into the net, but not even a minute of the second half had passed before Tottenham found themselves on level terms again.
A sea of red shirts failed to deal with a long Tottenham throw into the box, and an alert Kulusevski took full advantage, jinking past Craig Dawson and poking through the legs of Jose Sa at his near post.
The tie remained as open as ever following the Swede’s equaliser, as the feet of Vicario denied Sarabia in the 56th minute, four moments before Kulusevski tried his luck from range and saw his shot palmed away by Sa.
However, as was the case in their crushing of Chelsea, Wolves’ masterful counter-attacking play came to the fore in the 63rd minute, as following a cleared Spurs corner, Pedro Neto sprinted into the right-hand side of the Tottenham box before finding the arriving Gomes, who swept in his second of the day with a crisp first-time strike into the centre of the goal.
The changes soon arrived en masse for Spurs – including last weekend’s injury-time hero Brennan Johnson – but Wolves were containing their hosts with relative ease as the clock ticked down.
One gilt-edged opening presented itself to Tottenham in the fourth minute of injury time, but it fell to the wrong man, as Davies got his header all wrong from Kulusevski’s cross before the final whistle blew.
With Aston Villa coming away from Fulham with maximum points, the Lilywhites have dropped down to fifth in the standings, while O’Neil’s side temporarily jump above Chelsea into 10th place.
Owing to Chelsea’s involvement in the EFL Cup final next weekend, Tottenham have the luxury of a fortnight’s rest before they meet Crystal Palace on March 2, whereas Wolves are at home to Sheffield United next Sunday.
