Tottenham stars Mathys Tel and Pape Matar Sarr praised for proving to be inspired substitutes in the 1-1 draw with Wolves
Tottenham Hotspur endured a frustrating Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League. The result meant back-to-back stalemates for Thomas Frank’s side, although they still remain third in the table.
Wolverhampton Wanderers came with a plan and almost executed it to perfection. The Old and Gold defended in numbers, blocked spaces in midfield and looked a threat on the break every time Spurs lost possession. They also frustrated the hosts by slowing down the game on various occasions.
Wolves were rewarded nine minutes after the break when Santiago Bueno poked the ball past goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. It looked like Tottenham were heading for their second loss of the Premier League season before Joao Palhinha scored the leveller from the edge of the box in stoppage time.
Spurs skipper Cristian Romero took to his official X account to bemoan the Wolves draw. Thomas Frank felt his team were “out of sync” against Vitor Pereira’s side and paid the price with dropped points.
Alasdair Gold praises two Tottenham substitutes vs Wolves
With Wolves limiting Tottenham to few and far chances due to their compact structure, Frank had to turn on his bench for potential game-changers. Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson were the first players to come off the bench after the hour mark. However, they proved ineffective.
Frank then made another double substitution, bringing on Pape Matar Sarr and Wilson Odobert for Lucas Bergvall and Xavi Simons respectively, with eight minutes to play. In the 84th minute, the Danish tactician threw the last dice and made an offensive substitution, taking off left-back Destiny Udogie for Mathys Tel.
The move paid off as substitutes Mathys Tel and Pape Matar Sarr combined to create the goal for Palhinha. Respected journalist Alasdair Gold was full of praise for the duo, terming them Frank’s SOS- save our substitutions.
“Two of the subs did make a difference ultimately and they were Mathys Tel and Pape Matar Sarr who I guess they were there for Frank’s SOS, Thomas Frank’s SOS, which is save our substitutions because they did,” Alasdair Gold said on his YouTube channel.
“Odobert just gave the ball off to Tel. Tel was very direct and positive. Flicked the ball inside, pass a defender, cut inside, curls a low ball into the box. It’s kind of Sarr cushions it back out and there is Palhinha to just he doesn’t even miss a beat. He kind of hits this beautiful curling strike into the bottom.”
Frank has got players impacting games from the bench
Unlike on several occasions last season, Tottenham are finding ways to get points from losing position. Against Brighton, Frank brought on Xavi off the bench and he made an impact as Spurs drew 2-2 after going 2-0 down. Sarr and Tel proved inspired substitutions against Wolves, denying the visitors their first win of the season by combing well for Palhinha’s equaliser in stoppage time.
It is great to have options off the bench who can come in and change the course of the game, but Frank must know that not always things will click and Spurs will get away in the end. If looked at things positively, it shows that the Lilywhites now have quality depth in the squad to compete in different competitions.