Some Wolves fans went into Saturday’s game with Tottenham Hotspur fearful after the defeat to Liverpool. And the prospect of facing Harry Kane wasn’t a fun one – but the England captain was completely upstaged by Wolves’ Raul Jimenez in the end, in a predicament few saw coming.
Wanderers ran out 1-0 winners at Molineux thanks to a goal from Adama Traore.
Traore produced a lovely finish in off the crossbar at Molineux, and Wolves were able to hold out for three huge points.
Wolves had struggled a little in the first-half, and went in at the break having had zero efforts on the Tottenham goal.
But Julen Lopetegui tweaked a few things and made Wolves more threatening.
They dominated the second-half – and one man that seriously impressed was Jimenez.
The Mexican had been named on the bench, but got on in the first-half when Diego Costa had to go off injured.
And £30 million ace Jimenez was absolutely outstanding for Wanderers.
It was truly a complete performance from the number nine, the kind Wolves fans saw plenty of times before his skull fracture.
Jimenez was everywhere. He linked up play brilliantly, came short, ran in behind, tracked back and was a goal threat.
The only thing missing from his performance was a goal. If he is able to play like that consistently going forward, goals should start to flow again.
What was really interesting watching Jimenez was the way in which he was all-action.
It was the kind of performance we have come to associate from Jimenez’s opposite number Kane.
By contrast, Kane had real trouble having an impact on the game. His afternoon was made very difficult due to Mario Lemina doing a sterling job of man-marking him.
And then Loeptegui’s tactical changes at half-time meant he seldom got on the ball in the second-half.
Raul Jimenez completely upstaged Harry Kane in Wolves vs Tottenham
Kane is having another really good season with Spurs and has hit 18 Premier League goals so far.
While Tottenham have been inconsistent, the 29-year-old has tended to be quite reliable.
So it was quite surprising to see how ineffective he was against Wolves.
Lemina deserves massive credit for how he handled him in that first-half.
In the end, Jimenez completely upstaged Kane – who reportedly has a £100 million asking price at the moment – which was something few will have seen coming. Especially with Jimenez actually being named on the bench initially.
It is very encouraging, and hopefully Jimenez can turn in similar kinds of performances in the coming weeks.