Tottenham triumph on penalties after Wolves hit back from two goals down

Tottenham survived a scare after losing a 2-0 lead at Wolves to squeeze through in the Carabao Cup on penalties. Rúben Neves, Leander Dendoncker and Conor Coady missed in the shootout as Spurs progressed 3-2 following a 2-2 draw at Molineux. Nuno Espírito Santo’s team almost let the game slip after Harry Kane and Tanguy Ndombele put them in charge only for Dendoncker and Daniel Podence to haul the hosts level.

Back-to-back Premier League defeats by Crystal Palace and Chelsea and a draw at Rennes in the Europa Conference League had put the brakes on Spurs’ winning start under Nuno. But the Carabao Cup runners-up of last season progressed into the fourth round before Sunday’s north London derby with Arsenal.

Wolves continue to struggle under Bruno Lage. Their night started badly when the centre-back Yerson Mosquera’s debut lasted eight minutes before he was carried off with a suspected hamstring injury. Coady replaced him and just five minutes later was caught out by Ndombele for Tottenham’s opener.

The impressive Oliver Skipp won a crunching tackle with Neves and Ndombele’s heavy touch allowed the ball to run free for Coady. There appeared little danger but Ndombele charged down his attempted clearance and raced into the area, turned Willy Boly and rolled the ball under John Ruddy.

Nine minutes later it was 2-0 when Skipp again broke up play and Dele Alli’s perfect through-ball sent Kane clear to find the bottom corner. Spurs were threatening to open Wolves up at will and Alli almost added a third before he ran out of room, while Giovani Lo Celso slipped when well placed.

The hosts were comfortably second best but, with Molineux getting restless, pulled a goal back seven minutes before the break when Dendoncker headed in Rayan Aït-Nouri’s corner. Out of the blue, Wolves had given themselves a lifeline with their first home goal of the season.

But Ndombele, having scored his first goal for nine months, was hunting a second and he drilled over from a tight angle to highlight Wolves’s fragility at the back.

Adama Traoré, a target for Spurs in the summer, replaced the ineffective Fabio Silva at the break and the hosts immediately went hunting for a leveller but their penalty claims were ignored after Ndombele caught Hwang Hee-chan as the striker sent a shot over.

Ruddy then saved from Kane as the striker tried to smuggle the ball past him but was almost embarrassed when he fumbled a routine stop from Ndombele.

Wolves were growing in confidence, though, and equalised after 58 minutes. Ndombele was guilty of losing the ball to and Dendoncker fed Podence who comfortably beat Pierluigi Gollini.

With their comeback complete, Wolves had to rely on Ruddy to ensure they remained level when Son Heung-min’s cross found Kane but the goalkeeper’s reaction stop kept his header out, although the England captain should have not have given him a chance.

Penalties loomed although Neves almost won it for Wolves when his deflected effort dropped on to the crossbar with two minutes left. But neither side could find a winner. Neves sent his penalty over before Gollini saved from Dendoncker. Ruddy stopped Pierre-Emile Højbjerg’s effort, but Coady then smacked his effort against the bar to send Spurs through.