Tottenham Hotspur had Harry Kane to thank once again as his second half header secured the three points against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday lunchtime.
It was a first half in which Wolves proved the greater threat, with a particularly strong spell leading up to half time worrying the home fans as the visitors frustrated the hosts, yet they failed to capitalise on that dominance with a goal for themselves before the break.
A more energetic Spurs came out the tunnel for the second 45 minutes, with chances now suddenly aplenty for Antonio Conte's men as they looked to break the deadlock.
They did just that midway through the second half, with Kane in the right place at the right time to head Ivan Perisic's flick-on into the back of the net past Jose Sa to give Tottenham the lead.
It was an advantage they held onto, sending them to the top of the table (at least temporarily) in the process, while Bruno Lage's men will feel slightly hard done by at coming away with nothing, meaning they are still yet to win a game this season.
Story of the Match
Spurs made two changes from their feisty 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea last weekend, with Davinson Sanchez and Ivan Perisic coming in for Cristian Romero and Ryan Sessegnon respectively.
Meanwhile, the visitors also shuffled their starting eleven around, following a goalless draw with newly-promoted Fulham last time out, with new club record signing Matheus Nunes slotting into midfield, while another summer arrival in Goncalo Guedes came in up front too.
For a team that had not won a Premier League match since 2 April - a run of nine consecutive top flight matches - Wolves certainly did not look short of confidence, as they took the game to their opponents in the opening period.
A slick passing move involving the experienced Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho led to Guedes having the first chance, with the striker seeing his shot blocked by Sanchez out for a corner.
From that resulting set piece it was almost a cracker from the aforementioned Neves, as he took on an audacious volley - though nothing more than he is known to be capable of - which was caught well by Hugo Lloris.
Spurs were limited to hopeful long balls from members of their defence, with floated passes from the likes of Ben Davies and Eric Dier not finding Harry Kane, despite the high line being played by the away side.
In fact, it was Wolves that were exploiting the space in behind, in particular Guedes, with the Portugal international confidently running at the defence and winning fouls for his team on his first Premier League start for the Midlands side.
Antonio Conte's men did begin to gain more of a foothold in the game after a quarter of an hour or so, with Dejan Kulusevski getting on the ball more and carrying it into the box, but few clear-cut chances were presenting themselves for the hosts.
It was Bruno Lage's side that continued to pose the greater threat, with the drop in noise level from the crowd noticeable as they began to realise the difficulty of the task ahead of their team, prompting cries of "Is this the Emirates?" from the visiting supporters.
Yet, for all the dominance being shown by those in gold-and-black shirts, there were few big opportunities on display, as set pieces were repeatedly wasted after some good work forcing Spurs into committing fouls.
Arguably the best chance of the first half came in the 41st minute, when Ruben Neves floated a cross in towards Nunes, who was unable to direct his header on target, much to his own exasperation.
Spurs did finally show some threat late on in the first half, as Harry Kane forced a save out of Jose Sa with a header of his own, but it could not masquerade the poor showing in the opening 45 minutes from the hosts.
Wolves' superiority was perhaps best exemplified in the final act before half time, in which a defensive mix up nearly allowed Nunes in, with many Spurs players seeming to be suffering from something of a hangover after the previous weekend's excitement.
Tempo is turned up
Whatever Conte suggested to clear their heads in the dressing room clearly gave instant relief to the mental fog that had plagued them up until that point, as they came out for the second half with a far greater urgency.
Son Heung-Min forced a corner inside the first 60 seconds, then Perisic did the same a minute later, with the latter causing temporary chaos in the Wolves penalty area, before Kane clattered the crossbar with a header from a Kulusevski delivery.
In the space of just five minutes, Spurs had shown more intensity than they had throughout the entire first half, yet Wolves were not going to give up that easily.
Rayan Ait-Nouri and Podence played a neat one-two with each other, putting the former through on goal, but the left back got caught in two minds and allowed Lloris to make himself big and prevent a goal from his compatriot.
The end-to-end action refused to let up, with Son next to go close, as he latched onto a pinpoint ball from Kane only for the South Korean forward to skew his shot at the crucial moment.
Finally though, the breakthrough came in the 64th minute, as a corner from Son was flicked on by Perisic into the path of - who else? - Harry Kane, who had the simplest of tasks to head home into a practically empty net.
It was a goal that broke all kinds of records - the Englishman now has the most goals for one club in the Premier League era - but after a tough first half, the primary thought at the time for Spurs would have been on the relief at going ahead at all.
After some brief respite from the energetic nature of the second half, the chances began to come again, with Neves curling a free kick inches wide of the post as Wolves searched for an equaliser.
Kulusevski continued his fine form, delivering multiple dangerous crosses in the closing stages of the game, though none could quite lead to a second goal for the hosts.
Substitute Richarlison went on a fine run from the halfway line, beating multiple Wolves defenders, only to be closed down at the final moment by Ruben Neves as he was about to take the shot on.
A slightly nervy final few minutes for Tottenham, involving numerous Wolves corners, were still to come, but with the help of the crowd the North London side held on for a victory that, for now, sends them to the top of the table.
Player of the Match - Harry Kane
It took a little while for Harry Kane to properly get into this game, with the striker being somewhat frustrated in the first half by an impressively resolute Wolves defence as he was limited to a half-chance from a header.
But after Spurs came out with more intensity, the 29-year-old flourished, being involved in everything that was good about the home side up front.
He ended up getting the decisive goal that got Tottenham the three points, and proved - as he has done so many times before - just how crucial he is to Antonio Conte's side.