Joao Palhinha’s 82nd-minute strike earned Tottenham their first Premier League win of 2026 with a 1-0 win at Wolves but they remain in the relegation zone.
Spurs looked set to suffer this afternoon at Molineux after Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons were forced off through injury until Roberto De Zerbi watched Palhinha slide into the back post due to injury.
Richarlison fired in his first league win in 16 games.
It took Tottenham a while to get into the bottom three, but a late winner at West Ham kept the gap to two points with just four games remaining.
Wolves’ relegation was confirmed on Monday night and a desperate Spurs side made a strong start before Solanke had a penalty appeal in midfield after Hugo Bueno’s low push.
Randal Kolo Muani was also selected by De Zerbi despite scoring one league goal all season, but his shot went wide in the 12th minute after Andre’s mistake.
Pedro Porro sent a powerful effort after that to stop Tottenham’s momentum and Wolves forced two corners in quick succession to lift the Molineux crowd.
Solanke blocked Rodrigo Gomes’ volley soon after to spark the visitors into life, while Xavi Simons fired home Rodrigo Bentancur’s fine work.
However, the north London club’s injury curse struck again eight minutes into the first half when Solanke went down on the back of his left leg.
Solanke was forced to send off Yves Bissouma who looked set to suffer the same when he was caught by Andre’s hard ball, but he was able to start the second half.
Tottenham have given a quick update on Xavi Simons after the “really bad” injury at Wolves
It doesn’t look good.
The same could not be said for Kolo Muani, who was arrested by De Zerbi, and the Italian player should have watched Spurs take the lead in the 51st minute.
Porro spread the play brilliantly to Xavi, who cut inside but Matt Doherty got back enough to force the Tottenham striker to fire eight yards out.
A few minutes later and Xavi became the next away player to be injured at Molineux after a collision with Hugo Bueno.
Xavi fell to the ground and although he got back to his feet, he fainted after running down the touchline from the field and a stretcher was needed.
With West Ham leading at home to Everton, Spurs are now four points adrift of safety and Antonin Kinsky had to save Adam Armstrong from a loose ball before the visitors got a second wind.
Tel’s cross was deflected and Porro’s corner found Rodrigo Bentancur, but Jose Sa saved on 21 minutes.
Armstrong went ahead for Wolves and, as the Tottenham support tried to rally their team, the breakthrough followed in the 82nd minute.
Tel won a corner after chasing a lost cause and Porro’s delivery fell to Richarlison, who saw his effort deflected off the back of the post by Palhinha.
Palhinha intervened with the Spurs fans and the news was soon sorted with Everton drawing at West Ham.
Tottenham should have gone three short but the Wolves fans’ celebrations signaled a late winner at the London Stadium and De Zerbi was indebted to Kinsky for a stunning one-handed save from a Joao Gomes free-kick in stoppage time to secure a much-needed three points.
Alasdair Gold heaps praise on Kinsky
Writing in his post-match player ratings for Football London, Alasdair Gold gave the Spurs keeper nine out of ten: “He made a great run and dived to deny Armstrong after an hour.
“He was solid in everything he did and came up with a great speed to save the points to keep the three points.”
The 23-year-old has had a strong start to his Tottenham career, but now he can’t compromise after Guglielmo Vicario’s injury, and he could play a major role in the run.
Spurs travel to Aston Villa next weekend, while West Ham travel to Brentford.
