Wolves 0 – 1 Spurs

Joao Palhinha scored a late winner for Tottenham as they secured their first Premier League win of 2026 in a 1-0 win against Wolves that gives them hope of survival.

It was a dramatic final at Molineux, even after the substitute had put Spurs ahead, as Everton equalized against West Ham to briefly lift Roberto De Zerbi’s side out of the relegation zone before Callum Wilson’s late winner for the Hammers somewhat dampened the celebrations.

But that only made the three points all the more important for Tottenham on an afternoon when they lost Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons to injury. They remain two points behind West Ham, but retain hope of staying in the Premier League – thanks to Palhinha.

Spurs started brightly but could create little of note in a first half played at a pace that belied the urgency of their situation. Injuries to Solanke and then Simons, shortly after missing a good chance, added to the nervousness of away supporters in the ground.

Wolves grew in confidence once news of West Ham’s opener against Everton ratcheted up the pressure on their preliminary opponents and Adam Armstrong twice went close. But the game turned on a corner which was well won by Mathys Tel.

Pedro Porro’s ball in found Richarlison who was able to force it on target where fellow substitute Palhinha was waiting to slot home. There were another awkward moments to toughen up when Antonin Kinsky dived to keep out Joao Gomes’ 98th-minute free-kick.

But Spurs held on for a win that could be another big win in their history if it provides the turning point for them, a catalyst to stay in the Premier League. Without this win, they would be four behind with four games to play. Finally, they have some hope.

More than a victory, says Palhinha

Tottenham match winner João Palhinha asked if this changes things for Spurs:

“I don’t know, hopefully it changes, that’s the reality, but this win is much more than that. For me, for my teammates and especially for the whole club, for the fans too. It’s not a normal season that has led us to today.

“We all have responsibility in this season, but the reality is that we have four finals in the final of the league and we have to do our job and hopefully this victory can change what happened in the past, it also gives us a little more motivation because it has been a long time without victories. Especially in some of the games we should have taken a few more points, a lot more.

“I think a lot has happened, but sometimes it’s the details. But what we can control now is to do our job until the end of the season and try to keep the club where it belongs, which is the Premier League, and it’s a lot more than that.

“We all want to give something and we will give everything we have until the end of the season because it means a lot to us to keep the Premier League.”

De Zerbi: I hope result can change mentality

Tottenham head coach Robert De Zerbi spoke during the press conference:

“In the first half, in the first 35 minutes, we played well. We didn’t create great chances to score, but anyway we had control of the game, total control of the game.

“And then (in the second half) I don’t know, the pressure, maybe that we haven’t won a game in 2026, maybe this pressure, maybe because we played against Wolverhampton, (already) relegated, and we lost distances, we lost order on the pitch.

“I hope this result can change something in our head, in our mentality. And as for the other result, it is really very difficult to win a game for us, if we put our head on the other teams, it becomes too difficult.”

He added: “The most important thing is the qualities of the players, and the human level of the players. It was a surprise for me because I didn’t know them, and when I got to know my players better, I understood that we have the possibility, the chance to stay up.

“When you watch the game in the stands or on TV, you can’t understand if they have the right spirit, they have the right attitude, and (now) I work with them every day.

“All players are professionals, good guys, they suffer for this situation. (I want to) give them confidence and order on the pitch, because I didn’t like the second half at all. We could have played better, we have to play better, much better than the second half.”

About the injuries to Solanke and Simons:

“Solanke is a muscle injury, I don’t know what level of injury, and for Xavi it’s a knee problem. We’ll see in the next days, Monday or Tuesday.

“For Solanke it is not a big problem, I don’t know how many games we lose him, but I would like to know the situation of Xavi, because the knee is always different from the muscle injury.

“I spoke to him two minutes ago, he feels better than at the beginning of the injury.”

On Kinsky’s key save at the end:

“He deserves this day, because he played very well, especially today, he was decisive for the result. He deserves everything, because he is a good guy, he is a good ‘keeper, and especially after Madrid, he deserves a day like today.”

Edwards defends team after latest defeat

Wolves boss Rob Edwards spoke during the press conference:

“It’s not as easy as turning up and just beating Tottenham because they’ve had a bad time. They have very good players and their motivation level is incredibly high.

“It might sound strange to you all, I don’t know if you really fully appreciate what I’m saying. It’s been really challenging this week for us, you know, officially relegated. It’s been really difficult. So, for the players to give everything and match their intensity and match Tottenham’s levels of work rate, the lads deserve a lot of credit for that.

“I thought they were brilliant throughout the game, the fans. I don’t have a negative word to say about them at all. Like I said, we’ve lost three in a row, we’re bottom of the league and have been relegated this week. They’re not going to be happy.

“But what I need everyone to understand is that everyone is giving their all. Everyone is giving their all and it’s going to take a while to turn it around. We’re not in the middle of a transfer window right now. We can’t change loads. We’re trying.

“At the moment, times are tough. We’ve got to get up, take it, and then hopefully in a year’s time we’ll be in a much more positive place.

“The situation is there’s still four games left and we’ve got to make sure we show up and fight. Again, at the very end I looked around the room and every one of them turned around. There’s not one there that I can say gave up, didn’t try. Not one of them. They gave everything today.

“It’s hard because people don’t want to hear it after we lose, but there were some really good performances out there today and there was a real commitment from all of them. There really was. They’re really, really trying. They’re with it. They’re with us. They’re fighting.

“It was difficult this week. The final nail in the coffin, relegated. Maybe other teams would have just gone completely under today and it could have been an absolute shambles.

“It wasn’t that. It was a proper football game but we lost it, so people say what they want to say about it. That’s fine. But those boys who were there today gave everything.”

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