Tottenham Hotspur 2 and 0 after surviving at Wolves 0-1

Lloris leads defense on a big day

The Spurs held more possession against Wolves than they did against Manchester City – although it did not feel like it – yet conceded even more shots against the Wanderers. The Sky Blues had almost 66% possession and peppered 18 shots toward Lloris. The Wolves managed 22 shots on nearly 58% possession but time and again the Tottenham defense held strong.

Hugo Lloris was huge for Tottenham

It was a major day for Hugo Lloris as a Tottenham player as he passed Darren Anderton for the most appearances in the Premier League for the club at 300. And whether it was Hugo darting off his line to claim a long ball or making the huge save on Traore the club captain wanted that clean sheet on his big day.

Whereas Sa had the big foul on the other end of the pitch against Dele, Lloris showed he is still top class with a tremendous save on Adama Traore.

Eric Dier who had seemingly made a great play stepping up to win the ball right near midfield then lost possession to Neves. The Wolves midfielder took a touch, looked up the pitch, and then played the kind of through ball they will show 500 times from Kevin De Bruyne. It was inch-perfect past the retreating Tottenham defense and into the path of Traore.

Traore had a similar situation in week one against Leicester but missed the target against Schmeichel. Surely, Traore was not going to miss a second time on the breakaway. The truth is Traore did not miss, he struck a decent effort heading for the corner of the goal. Hugo was again quick off his line and managed to stick a boot out and make the big save.

Again, outside the penalty, this was the moment of the match. If Fabio Paratici is wondering about giving Hugo a few more years with the club, moments like that should help him make his decision, as the Spurs skipper came good.

Lloris was not alone in the stout defending as Tottenham managed to block nine shots. Whether it was Tanganga, Dele, Sanchez, or Oliver Skipp, the Spurs were putting their bodies on the line to keep the ball out of the net.

Tottenham could not find a second

Although the defense did the job and Spurs left with the three points, one can’t help but think it could have been a bit easier had any one of several opportunities been converted. Sa made a double save on Bergwijn and then Heung-Min Son. Sa made a critical save on Harry Kane one-on-one – after Spurs talisman came off the bench for Son with 20 minutes to play.

It was not a case of Tottenham not hitting the target, the shots and chances were there, it was Sa keeping the Lilywhites at bay, which prevented more breathing room.

Ultimately, neither team was quite good enough in the final third to find that open play goal and the game ended with Tottenham hanging on for all three points. The Spurs were not as intense or as impressive as they were against City in the opener but they did enough and a win is a win in the Premier League. Now for Tottenham, it is on to Paços on Thursday followed by Watford a week from today.