Tottenham Hotspur moved up to sixth in the Premier League table as they comfortably beat a disappointing Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Harry Kane gave Spurs the lead on the stroke of half time after rounding Rui Patricio, before the points were sealed in the second half by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg who pounced on a rebound following Gareth Bale's effort.
The result was Tottenham's third home win out of three under interim manager Ryan Mason, while Wolves lost away at Spurs for the first time since September 2011.
-
Story of the match
Ryan Mason made just one change to the side that lost 3-1 at Elland Road last weekend as Japhet Tanganga replaced Serge Aurier. Meanwhile, Nuno Espirito Santo made four alterations to the team that beat Brighton & Hove Albion, with Daniel Podence, Ruben Neves, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Max Kilman replaced by Adama Traore, Leander Dendoncker, Nelson Semedo and Romain Saiss.
The first attempt of a first half dominated by Tottenham came from Harry Kane, whose attempt from more than 20 yards beat Rui Patricio but rattled the far post and rebounded to safety.
Despite the host's control, Wolves were hugely effective in the opening stages on the counter-attack through Traore. The Spaniard set up two chances for Fabio Silva, but the 18-year-old's efforts were dragged or deflected wide.
Wolves then faced wave after wave of Spurs pressure for the final 15 minutes before the break. Son Heung-min forced a good save out of Patricio, before the Portuguese needed his captain Conor Coady to block two efforts in quick succession off the line.
Nuno's side looked to have hung on to head in at the break level, but a rare loss of concentration from Saiss and Coady enabled Harry Kane to run through, round Patricio and give Spurs the lead they warranted on the stroke of half time.
It was the visitors who had the first chance of the second half, which really should have drawn them level. Vitinha's cross brilliantly found Saiss in the box, but the Moroccan couldn't generate enough power and his header was straight at Hugo Lloris.
Spurs had their first chance of the half just a couple of minutes later as Sergio Reguilon's effort was well tipped over by Patricio, as the Spaniard continued to look for his first goal in English football. The hosts then couldn't have gone closer to doubling their lead as both Kane and Dele Alli hit the post after the latter robbed the ball of Joao Moutinho in midfield.
Just after the hour mark, Spurs finally did make it two. Some woeful defending by Ki-Jana Hoever allowed Reguilon to find Gareth Bale whose effort was saved by Patricio, but the rebound fell to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg who poked home to wrap up the points for Mason's side.
After going two down, Wolves suddenly burst into life and started creating chances. Morgan Gibbs-White found Silva in the middle of the area but his shot was again dragged wide from 12 yards out, while Adama Traore went close just moments later, but his effort went similarly wide of Lloris' goal.
The latter stages of the game saw little goalmouth action as Spurs comfortably held on to the three points that sees them rise above West Ham into sixth place.
-
Lethargic Wolves performance shows need for summer rebuild
While Wolves' performance may have been a shock for some neutrals, it surprised no supporter of the old gold and black.
Too many times this season Nuno's side have gone one down before trying to venture out of their own half, while game plans like the one implemented at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have been a regular occurrence this campaign.
With just two games left of a miserable season, Wolves' hierarchy have big decisions to make. Firstly, they need to work out if they are going to stick with Nuno, after a season that has not just been difficult from a results point of view, but also hugely difficult on the eye.
With all the noises from Molineux seeming to suggest that Nuno will be in charge come August, he needs to be backed. While the Portuguese's shortcomings have contributed to Wolves' downfall, his squad simply isn't good enough to have Wanderers competing for European places like they have done in the past two campaigns.
After five disappointing transfer windows in succession, Jeff Shi has to get this one right, otherwise Wolves will be in serious trouble.