Tottenham really are their own worst enemy at times. Heading into Saturday's Premier League clash away at Wolves, Antonio Conte's men knew that a win would see them extend their lead over Newcastle United to seven points following the Magpies' 2-0 defeat at Man City in the lunchtime kick-off.
A golden opportunity for the team in the race for a Champions League finish, Tottenham started the game brightly after their dismal midweek defeat at Sheffield United and forced Jose Sa into a number of saves. At the other end of the pitch, Wolves did nothing of note to call Fraser Forster into action but their performance did considerably go up a notch or two after Son Heung-min had crashed an effort against the crossbar shortly after the restart.
Forced into a first-half substitution following Diego Costa's injury, Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui made a double sub at half-time and then another two changes midway through the second half. The alterations worked a treat and gave the hosts some much-needed fresh legs and energy to help overcome Tottenham.
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Adama Traore, who was introduced at the break, scored the decisive goal in the contest as he reacted extremely well and found the net via the underside of the crossbar after Forster had parried Raul Jimenez's effort. The winger was clinical when the ball landed at his feet, something Tottenham were not in the final third during the 90 minutes at Molineux.
While some may look at the scoreline and make up their own mind about another Tottenham loss without watching the match back, a glance at the stats gives a real indicator of just how busy Wolves were in their own half for a large part of the game. Tottenham had 21 shots on goal and six on target compared to Wolves' eight shots and five on target.
Prior to Forster's first save in the second half, the shot count read 14-0 in Tottenham's favour. Positive in one sense as it showed Tottenham were taking the game to their opponents and doing everything possible to win, what it also did was shine a light on their lack of a clinical edge, which is down to the players on the pitch and not exactly something Conte can fix once they cross the white line.
Had Tottenham taken their chances then the game would have been out of sight for Wolves long before Traore netted in the 82nd minute. That wasn't the case, though, and Tottenham's defeat has really opened up the door for Liverpool, who will move to within three points of Spurs if they beat Manchester United on Sunday, in the fight for a Champions League spot.
The visitors were incredibly unlucky on a couple of occasions, notably Sa's heroics to keep out Dejan Kulusevski's curling effort and Ivan Perisic's header, as well as Pedro Porro's fantastic free-kick rattling against the crossbar. The second half then saw Spurs hit the woodwork again as Son, whose blushes were spared by the linesman's offside flag in the first half after blazing an effort over after taking a couple of extra touches, was put through by Kane and a slight deflection off Craig Dawson saw the ball rise slightly too high and ensure the score remained level.
Other chances fell Spurs' way as Clement Lenglet saw a header saved, Porro's shot was deflected over and a Kane effort took a slight nick and went for a corner. Spurs fans knew what was eventually going to happen going on the number of chances they passed up, with Traore, who has been heavily linked with a move to N17 in the past, making the visitors pay with a lovely finish.
Assistant head coach Cristian Stellini summed it up perfectly in his post-match press conference by claiming that his team "were not so nasty in the way to score" and that they have to "kill the game". The killer instinct eluded them and it ultimately proved costly once again.
"I think the performance was good, particularly in the first half when we controlled the game in every aspect," explained the Italian. "We had some chances to score. We were not so nasty in the way to score. When you have a chance like this, you have to kill the game. The game was under control but then in the second half we struggled a bit at the start but after 10 minutes we adapted to the situation and we controlled the game.
"We had another chance with Sonny that hit the bar. After that I think they had some intensity in the game, winning some offensive duels and that create a situation where we struggle a bit and the game changed, but they found a way to score and we didn't. This is the history of the game."
Kane also echoed Stellini's comments about being clinical when speaking to SPURSPLAY.
"I thought we controlled the game for large spells but just weren't really clinical enough in the final third," said the 29-year-old. "Whether it's the final finish or the pass or the cross, we just weren't clinical enough and at this level you get punished and that's what happened towards the end of the game.
"You can't fault the effort of the lads, you can't fault the way we played. But at this level If you want to be fighting at the top end of the table you need to be clinical in different moments. That's not just with the finish, that's with the final pass, that's when you're 3vs2 and scenarios like that. I feel we just need to get better in those moments. Premier League games when it's 0-0 for a large portion you can always get caught and that's what we done."
One thing for sure is that Tottenham need to find a quick fix as AC Milan are coming up in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie on Wednesday evening. Failure to take their opportunities and Spurs will bid farewell to Europe's premier competition exactly one week on from their humiliating defeat at Sheffield United.
Having a clinical edge is easier said than done but at least Tottenham are in a position where they are creating openings compared to previous games when creativity was the main issue. Trailing 1-0 following their defeat in the San Siro, Tottenham, as they did do at Wolves, must make a bright start as they cannot afford to give themselves a mountain to climb come the second half or else another cup exit will be on the cards.
As important as it is Spurs find their shooting boots in midweek, they also need them on for the rest of the season as there's a very good chance the top-four battle will go on right until the final whistle of the campaign. With more games like the Wolves encounter likely to play out in their 12 Premier League fixtures, Tottenham cannot have any more repeats of what happened at Molineux as the likes of Newcastle and Liverpool will be waiting to pounce.
It is now down to the players to fix that issue in front of goal.
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