• 2 days ago
BirminghamWorld reporter Charlie Haffenden's reaction after Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League, with goals from Hwang Hee-Chan, Rodrigo Bentancur, Brennan Johnson and Jorgen Strand Larsen.

Category

🥇
Sports
Transcript
00:00Wolverhampton Wanderers have rounded off 2024 in style with a late 2-2 draw away at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
00:09The unbeaten start of new manager Vito Pereira has continued.
00:13Three matches now, of course the win away at Leicester, the win at home against Manchester United,
00:18and now after going behind 2-1, drawing 2-2 to claim another point away at Tottenham Hotspur.
00:25Seven out of nine in the Premier League takes Wolves out of the relegation zone up to 16 points,
00:30two points above Leicester City in 18th.
00:33Ipswich Town and Southampton are the other two teams rounding off the bottom three.
00:37The positivity at this football club now is incredible compared to what it was just two weeks ago.
00:43When Gary O'Neill's team lost 2-1 at home to Ipswich, a last minute header really sealed his fate in that match.
00:51It was so toxic on the pitch. Obviously there was the Matthias Cunha incident with the Ipswich Town staff member still being investigated by the FA.
00:58There was the Brian Aitnuri sending off for a second yellow card, an altercation in a melee on the pitch.
01:04It just seemed as if Wolves were destined for trouble and potentially relegation to the Championship.
01:09But now, just two weeks later, Christmas in between and Wolves very much on the rise.
01:14Pereira said after the win at Leicester that this team would not get relegated.
01:19He then backed that up by leading his team to a 2-0 win over United.
01:22And then, of course, this as well showed great character despite suffering quite a lot in this match.
01:28After going 1-0 up, Wolves actually, through Hwang Heechan, a surprise starter.
01:32A really nice goal from outside the area after a short free-kick routine between Andre and Brian Aitnuri.
01:38The goal from Hwang in off the post and a lovely knee slide as well as the Wolves fans celebrated.
01:44But after that, Wolves did suffer, as I say, because Tottenham really pushed on to come back into the game.
01:50There was a goal pretty much instantly after Hwang's goal, I think three, maybe four minutes later.
01:55The 17th goal from a set-piece this season that Wolves conceded as Bentancur headed in from a Pedro Porra corner.
02:02Bendragazin, just two minutes after that, very nearly scored a header from another corner, but it went narrowly wide.
02:08Jungmin Son missed a penalty after Andre fouled Brennan Johnson in the area.
02:12Jose Sarr, a fantastic save, that one to keep that one out.
02:16But then, just before the break, Brennan Johnson, the man who won the penalty, scored to get Tottenham ahead.
02:21The start of the second half was difficult for Wolves as Tottenham pressed on to go further ahead.
02:26But eventually, it became a little bit scrappy and allowed Wolves to make it a bit competitive again.
02:32And then Jürgen Strand-Larsen, who was benched because Pereira wanted to ensure he didn't get injured.
02:37He thought he'd had so many successive starts in a short period, he didn't want to risk anything.
02:41Strand-Larsen comes off the bench and he scores what turned out to be the equaliser and earning the point for Wolves.
02:47And not just any goal either, a really nice finish.
02:50Ait Nuri getting his second assist of the match, a lovely threaded pass in behind, a reverse pass in behind.
02:56With Strand-Larsen, a tight angle, firing into the roof of the net, somehow squeezing it in at the near post.
03:02So, positivity, very high at Wolves now, heading into the new year and let's see what they can do.
03:07Can they build on this under Vito Pereira in the second half of the season? Only time will tell.

Recommended