Joe Cole lauds ‘outstanding’ Wolves ace who spun Tottenham clash ‘on its head’; ‘standout’ Spurs man named

Joe Cole has hailed Pablo Sarabia for his game-changing performance against Tottenham Hotspur, as he registered a goal and assist late on to help Wolverhampton Wanderers pick up all three points at Molineux.

The home crowd was left shocked in the third minute when Brennan Johnson gave Tottenham the lead. He finished from close range after good work from Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski down the right flank.

Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan both had good chances for Wolves after the break, but they failed to convert.

Johnson then had the opportunity to net a brace when he was played in behind the Wolves defence in the 72nd minute, only to tamely send his effort wide. And that miss ended up proving costly.

Wolves started to ramp up the pressure and they got their equaliser through Sarabia in the first minute of injury time. The Spaniard, who had only come off the bench in the 87th minute, excellently kept a lofted Cunha pass in the air before smashing past Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario on his left foot.

And Sarabia’s impact on the game was not done there. Six minutes later, he sent a perfectly-weighted pass into the box for Mario Lemina, and the midfielder made no mistake with his finish.

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Wolves ran out 2-1 winners, sending both the Molineux crowd and manager Gary O’Neil wild.

During an appearance on TNT Sports, formerly known as BT Sport, former Chelsea and England ace Cole labelled Sarabia’s impact ‘outstanding’ and also praised O’Neil, whom he played with at West Ham United.

Pablo Sarabia lauded for ‘dispatching’ difficult chance

“Only in the Premier League [would you see that]. At 70 minutes I was sitting there thinking, ‘this could be the worst game we’ve done all season so far’. It’s just spun on its head, and this place is buzzing. The party has started,” he said.

“Sarabia came on and he was outstanding. The finish was outstanding, what a goal. He took it with his right foot and just dispatched it.

“Gary O’Neil, trust me I played with him, when he took off on his celebration, he hasn’t run that fast in his whole career! I’m so pleased for him, it was a wonderful performance from his team.

“His teams are now playing in his image, he’s aggressive and on the details. Fantastic for Wolves.”

Spurs will be devastated to have lost the game after leading for 90 minutes. Before Wolves equalised, co-commentator Lucy Ward praised Ben Davies for helping the Spurs backline appear solid, despite the absences of first-choice options Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie.

“Prior to that goal [Wolves’ first], Spurs defended really well,” she said. “Ben Davies has been the standout player for Spurs, in a difficult situation he’s come in.

“Everyone’s been talking about how they won’t be as good defensively, Spurs, with the players that are missing – I think he’s been brilliant.”

However, that praise will come as little consolation for Davies or Spurs, as they had all three points snatched away from them.

After the upcoming international break, Spurs will be looking to get back to winning ways when they host Aston Villa in North London on Sunday November 26. Wolves, meanwhile, will be aiming to build on that huge result when they travel to Fulham on Monday November 27.

Elsewhere, Spurs are ready to step up their chase for a Premier League star as they try to land him before rivals Arsenal, according to reports.