Wolves beat Spurs 2-1 in Premier League Korean derby

Football

Published: 18 Feb. 2024, 12:06 Updated: 18 Feb. 2024, 16:21

Wolves beat Spurs 2-1 in Premier League Korean derby

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hwang Hee-chan, left, challenges for the ball with Tottenham Hotspur's Micky van de Ven during a Premier League match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

Hwang Hee-chan's Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Son Heung-min's Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a Korean derby in London on Saturday.

Wolves forward Hwang and Spurs captain Son both started the Premier League match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London, with Wolves taking the Korean derby honors for a third consecutive time.

Saturday’s fixture was Hwang’s Premier League return match from the Asian Cup — where Korea exited with a semifinal loss to Jordan on Feb. 6 — having missed a league game against Brentford on Feb. 10 due to pain in his calf.

Hwang had a shot in front of goal in the sixth minute, which turned out to be his only shot during the game, but it went high. Wolves still opened the scoring, with midfielder Joao Gomes slotting in a header from a corner in the 42nd minute.

Dejan Kulusevski made it 1-1 with a tidy shot inside the penalty area in the 46th minute, but Gomes struck again, scoring in the 63rd minute to seal a 2-1 victory.

Son played the full 90 minutes and made some crosses on the left side of the pitch, but failed to record a single shot.

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min, left, reacts during Saturday's Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

“The first half wasn’t great,” Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said after the match. “We controlled the game well enough. We just weren’t threatening enough and we didn’t really sort of capitalize the moments we had and even without pressing, it wasn’t the usual level.”

Saturday’s result pushed Spurs down from fourth to fifth on the 20-team table, while elevating Wolves from 11th to 10th.

“We should’ve probably put the game to bed with some of the chances we created on the counter-attack,” Wolves manager Gary O’Neil told Sky Sports after the match. “Disappointed with the goal they scored but it's a really good performance, fantastic to bounce back from a disappointing result last weekend and [we now have] 35 points and we keep pushing upwards.”

Saturday's game marked Wolves’ second win over Spurs in the league this season, having beaten the London side also 2-1 in November last year. Neither Korean players recorded a goal or assist during that fixture either.

Despite having failed to score in the two Korean derbies in the 2023-24 Premier League campaign, both Korean forwards have been in remarkable form this season.

The Spurs captain has scored 12 goals in 22 fixtures to land in fifth on the league top scorer table, with Hwang having recorded 10 goals in 21 matches to sit at eight.

This season is the first time that Hwang has recorded double-digits in the goal column in the league, having made his league debut with Wolves in 2021.

Wolves will be back in league action on Feb. 25 when they face Sheffield United at home, while Spurs will play their next game on March 3 against Crystal Palace at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London.

About three months are left until the end of the 2023-24 Premier League, but it is still unclear which team will claim victory and which sides will finish in the top four, as a race at top of the table has been extremely competitive.

Only 10 points separate league leaders Liverpool with 57 points and fifth-place Spurs at 47 as of press time Sunday.

The only title Spurs have a chance of winning this season is the Premier League, having crashed out of the FA Cup with a loss to Manchester City last month and made an early exit from the Carabao Cup with a loss to Fulham in August last year.

Tottenham are not competing in this season’s Champions League, as they failed to qualify for the tournament after finishing last Premier League season in eighth place.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]