Wolves 2-1 Spurs | Ange’s verdict: “It’s a hard one to take”

Ange Postecoglou paid tribute to the effort and commitment of the team but couldn’t hide his disappointment after two late goals consigned us to defeat at Wolves on Saturday.

We fielded a much-changed line-up at Molineux after Monday night’s well-documented loss against Chelsea yet started so impressively, Brennan Johnson touching home a textbook move for his first Spurs goal and the lead on three minutes.

However, Wolves slowly gained control and started to create half-chances, although Guglielmo Vicario was only tested once in the first half, a tip away from Mario Lemina. That pattern remained in the second half as we defended stoutly under pressure and began to create chances ourselves, Jose Sa forced into the save of the match from Gio Lo Celso with only two minutes remaining.

It looked like we’d weathered the storm but, as the fourth official showed six minutes of added time, Wolves grabbed a smart equaliser as Pablo Sarabia took in Matheus Cunha’s pass on the run, controlled and volleyed home without breaking stride. That was 90+1 – five minutes later, it was all over as Sarabia turned provider for Lemina to divert home from close range.

Speaking to our Review Show at Molineux, Ange said: “Obviously, it’s a hard one to take right at the end. The lads gave everything they could. We probably ran out of legs towards the end. Wolves were always going to come at us and scored a couple of good goals, to be fair to them. So, yes, disappointing for us to concede so late.

“We started well in terms of scoring the goal, but in the first half I felt we could have been we could have been a little more positive in our play. I just felt we played within ourselves a little, maybe because of the scoreline, we were winning 1-0, and maybe we could have been more positive.

“I thought the second half was a little better. We created some chances but, in the end, Wolves scored the goals they needed.

“I’ve had a chat to the players and it’s not a question of effort and commitment, like I said, quite a lot of them haven’t played for a while, so it’s a big shift playing here, away from home, with the kind of team they are. I can’t fault that. At the same time, we’ll take the pain of this to go back, work harder and come back stronger.”