Wonderful Wolves hold Spurs

Wolves and Tottenham played out a pulsating 3-3 draw as Steven Fletcher rescued a deserved point for Mick McCarthy's side.

Fletcher salvages deserved point for McCarthy's men

Wolves and Tottenham played out a pulsating yet controversial 3-3 draw at Molineux as Steven Fletcher's late goal rescued a deserved point for Mick McCarthy's side. The hosts had found themselves on the wrong end of a couple of key decisions, most notably when referee Mark Halsey disallowed a Richard Stearman header for a foul on goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes when the score was 3-2 in Tottenham's favour. But justice was served in the 87th minute when Fletcher rose highest to direct a fantastic Matt Jarvis cross into the net. Wolves have performed creditably against the bigger sides all season and looked on course to claim another scalp when Kevin Doyle broke the deadlock with a header on 20 minutes from Nenad Milijas' cross with Gomes poorly positioned. Jermain Defoe then turned the game on its head with his first two Premier League goals of the season, showing no signs of a lack of confidence as he curled home both finishes majestically from outside the area. Controversy surrounded Wolves' equaliser five minutes before half-time as Doyle scored from the penalty spot after Milijas had been tugged back by last man Alan Hutton, who only received a yellow card. Tottenham moved back in front early in the second period courtesy of a third long-range strike, as Roman Pavlyuchenko rifled a powerful effort into the roof of the net via a slight deflection. Wolves battled hard in an effort to draw level again and applied some considerable pressure, with Gomes making a splendid fingertip save from Milijas. It looked like Spurs would hold on when Stearman's effort was harshly ruled out, but Wolves were not to be denied as Fletcher nodded home a late leveller. The result leaves Wolves in the relegation zone and Tottenham, who welcomed Gareth Bale back from injury as a substitute, outside the top four.

Bright start

Before kick-off there was a minute's applause from supporters in honour of former Wolves and Tottenham defender Dean Richards who died last week aged 36. Spurs made a bright start and were the first to threaten on a bobbly pitch when Luka Modric teed up Pavlyuchenko 20 yards out, but the Russian opted to place his shot and did not seriously test Wayne Hennessey. Hennessey needed to react quickly in racing out of his area to hack the ball clear from Defoe after he chased down a long clearance from Benoit Assou-Ekotto. But Wolves enjoyed a sustained spell of possession and Adam Hammill then picked out the run of Milijas into the Spurs box but he could not keep his header down. Jarvis had a first time shot deflected by William Gallas into the side netting but it came as no surprise when Doyle put them ahead. Milijas delivered another quality cross and Doyle got in front of Gomes and flicked his header into the net. Spurs responded and after 30 minutes a superb strike from Defoe brought them back on level terms. He had time to line up a shot 25 yards out and caught hold of it perfectly as it flew past the drive of Hennessey. Five minutes later another brilliant effort by Defoe put Spurs in front. Modric's pass, cut out by Ward, rebounded fortuitously to Defoe and from the left of the area he curled a shot past Hennessey inside the far post. Wolves hit back and after 39 minutes Doyle made it 2-2 from the penalty spot. Milijas had his shirt tugged by Hutton, who appeared to be the last defender as he chased down a deflected shot by Doyle. But referee Halsey opted to yellow card Hutton before Doyle sent Gomes the wrong way from the spot.

Lead regained

Spurs needed only two minutes of the second half to regain the lead through Pavlyuchenko. Jenas was allowed to run unchallenged to the edge of the Wolves box before slipping the ball to Pavlyuchenko. He turned inside before drilling a 15 yard shot past Hennessey. It was his 11th goal of the campaign. Wolves came close to equalising and Ward glanced a header just wide from Jarvis' inswinging centre. Michael Dawson was yellow-carded for up-ending Hammill in full flight, before McCarthy made his first change after 58 minutes with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who netted twice last week against Blackpool, replacing Ward. Wolves started to build some momentum and Gomes made a fine save to turn Milijas' low drive onto a post. Hennessey had to be alert in saving at the feet of Defoe who raced onto Modric's ball over the top. Bale made his return after a back injury in place of Pienaar, before Ebanks-Blake could have made it 3-3 but he dragged his shot wide from 12 yards wide after Jarvis had cut the ball back from the byline. Milijas poked the ball over the bar at full stretch when meeting a cross from Doyle, while Gallas was yellow carded for bringing down Ebanks-Blake. Bale could have wrapped the points up but shot wide from close range. Stearman had the ball in the net from a Milijas cross but Halsey adjudged Gomes had been fouled. Defoe came close to completing his hat-trick when his shot hit the post, but in the 87th minute Fletcher levelled with a header from Jarvis' cross.

Wolverhampton Wanderers	Team Statistics	Tottenham Hotspur
3	Goals	3
2	1st Half Goals	2
4	Shots on Target	7
8	Shots off Target	6
6	Blocked Shots	7
7	Corners	4
11	Fouls	11
0	Offsides	2
0	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
71.2	Passing Success	76.1
18	Tackles	19
72.2	Tackles Success	68.4
52.9	Possession	47.1
54.1	Territorial Advantage	45.9