Palhinha goal gives Spurs first league win of 2026 | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur earned their first league win of 2026 thanks to João Palhinha's goal against already-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers.

It wasn't the prettiest game of football with two sides very much scrapping – Spurs for survival and Wolves for some honour before they go down next season.

Roberto De Zerbi must have felt like he knew exactly what kind of look the North London side have had all season when he was forced into a first-half substitution with Richarlison replacing the injured Dominic Solanke.

He had to do the same thing in the second half too. Xavi Simons went down in pain, only to try and get back to his feet and look in even more pain before being stretchered off. Lucas Bergvall was brought on in place of Simons.

However, it only took one moment for Spurs to get ahead. It came from a corner that Richarlison headed down with João Palhinha, played onside by Matt Doherty, getting the touch that sent it past José Sá.

Spurs celebrated but must have thought about their game against Brighton where they were pegged back late on it.

It almost happened here too with Antonin Kinsky needing to make two-fine stoppage-time saves to preserve all three points.

Briefly during the game, Spurs were out of the relegation zone but West Ham United's winner meant that they remain in the bottom three.

De Zerbi will be hoping that this is the turning point for his team now but they will next face four teams who have far more attacking threat than this stodgy Wolves side.

Incidents: The story of the match

Wolverhampton Official Line-ups:

José Sá, Matt Doherty, Pedro Lima, Toti Gomes, Santiago Bueno, Hugo Bueno, André, Mateus Mané, João Gomes, Adam Armstrong, Rodrigo Gomes

Tottenham Official Line-ups:

Antonín Kinsky, Djed Spence, Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven, Kevin Danso, Xavi Simons, Conor Gallagher, Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur, Randal Kolo Muani, Dominic Solanke

1':

The match begins

Tottenham Hotspur takes the lead 1-0 with João Palhinha scoring from very close range into the bottom right corner, assisted by Richarlison after a corner.

82':

GOAL Tottenham: João Palhinha (Tottenham) scores!

João Palhinha scores goal number 4 in the competition (29 matches)

998':

The referee whistles for the end of the match