Wolves beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 for the second time this season on Saturday and on Match of the Day, Danny Murphy picked out two players for special praise.
Wanderers bounced back from the 2-0 defeat to Brentford to beat Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – and it was just another top performance from Gary O’Neil‘s side against one of the Premier League’s big boys.
The superb Joao Gomes opened the scoring with a free header from a corner just before half-time.
Wolves were pegged back when Dejan Kulusevski wriggled free to score from a tight angle.
But the counter-attacking Wolves went back ahead when Pedro Neto raced clear and cut back for Gomes to score his second of the day.
Wolves then defended resolutely for the rest of the contest and held out for three huge points.
Neto has been getting a lot of praise since yesterday’s game for his electric performance – but Murphy picked out two other Wolves players on last night’s Match of the Day…
Danny Murphy says Joao Gomes and Mario Lemina were key to Wolves’ win over Tottenham
O’Neil got his tactics spot on once again yesterday.
This team is so well suited to playing on the counterattack with the pace of Neto and Hwang-Hee chan up top, and the likes of Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo supporting from out wide.
But Murphy noted the jobs that Joao Gomes and Mario Lemina did in midfield yesterday, believing the pair were crucial to the victory.
He said on Match of the Day: “They set the tone, absolutely terrific. These two have got a nice partnership going. Seeing the Maddison in there and the two other lads Sarr and Bissouma – I thought they might get out outnumbered. The amount of work they put in and the energy…
“They work well together. Defensively, they get back in, they fill holes. But with the ball, they’ve got belief, great technical ability.
“The defensive work in midfield is something that goes unnoticed. You can’t win football matches in the Premier League unless your midfield players do the hard yards and the dirty bits.
“The pair of them, outstanding.”
Lemina and Gomes are an incredible midfield duo
The partnership of Lemina and Gomes continues to blossom for Wolves and it is such an underrated part of the team.
The amount of work they both get through is ridiculous, and they just make life so much easier for the players around them.
To think both of these stars only came to the club just over a year ago, and this is the level that they are showing. You can just tell how much Gomes relishes playing with £10 million man Lemina, and you would imagine the Gabon international has given his teammate so much advice.
Lemina is to Gomes, what Joao Moutinho was to Ruben Neves. So potentially, Wolves have a seriously exciting prospect on their hands in the Brazilian.