Here are our Tottenham talking points after their 1-0 victory at Wolves finally ended their 15-game winless streak in the Premier League
Ultimately all Tottenham could do was their job and for the first time in the Premier League in 2026 they did it.
After 118 days they were finally able to head over to their 3,000 travelling fans and celebrate. Micky van de Ven sprinted across while Roberto De Zerbi pumped his fists at them in delight. The result had not gone their way back in London with West Ham grabbing a winner of their own against Everton but that could not be controlled.
Spurs just had to remember how to win a game of football and if it was an ugly 1-0 victory against the Premier League's already-relegated bottom side then so be it.
The alternative was being cast adrift with their hosts and Burnley after the Wolves fans had sung "You're going down with the Wanderers" and "Tottenham away" with the expectation of next season in the Championship.
Yet Tottenham managed to make it past the taunts and the chants and it remains the case that just two points separate them from safety. That means there's a chance.
De Zerbi's men got the win despite injuries continuing to wreak havoc. Dominic Solanke went down with what looked like a tight muscle just 38 minutes into the contest and then Xavi Simons injured his knee on the hour mark after jolting it while being challenged by Hugo Bueno.
He was carried off on a stretcher and Tottenham had to find a way to score without their playmaker. James Maddison was named among the substitutes but remains essentially a cheerleader on the bench after feeling pain in the week as he recovers from his ACL injury.
Yet Spurs huffed and puffed and eventually in the 82nd minute it was they who blew the Wolves' door down.
Half-time substitute Mathys Tel chased down a ball he had no right to get to, won it off Bueno before winning a corner.
Pedro Porro's subsequent flag kick caused problems in the box and Richarlison's stab at the ball only caused it to squirm diagonally to where his fellow substitute Joao Palhinha, was on hand to slide the ball into the net past Jose Sa. All three substitutes had helped create the goal, along with Porro.
It sparked wild celebrations from the Tottenham players but the job was not done yet. Wolves had nothing to play for other than pride in front of the Molineux crowd but that was enough to push them on against a nervous away side.
Deep into added time, Antonin Kinsky made one of the best saves thus far in his young career. The 23-year-old flung himself high to his left and at full stretch tipped away Joao Gomes' curling free-kick as it dipped underneath the crossbar.
It was a brave save from the goalkeeper, knowing full well that he would crash into the post on his way down.
He had no hesitation though and for Kinsky, who had made another crucial intervention to stop Adam Armstrong earlier in the second half, it was a moment of true redemption. His horror night in Madrid is now firmly in the rear view mirror after three strong displays between the sticks.
"He deserves this day, because he played very well today," said De Zerbi in his press conference. "Especially today, he was crucial for the result. He deserves everything, because he's a good guy, he's a good keeper. Especially after Madrid, he deserves one day like today."
In even plainer language, Maddison posted on Instagram: "Brilliant mate. Huge (insert part of the male anatomy here) to bounce back last few weeks. Showing your quality."
Tottenham cleared the ensuing corner and before the ball had touched the floor, referee Anthony Taylor blew his whistle and everybody exhaled. The again excellent Rodrigo Bentancur ran over to Kinsky and made sure the Czech was well aware that he had played a huge part.
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The woeful run was over. Spurs had avoided equalling the club record of 16 consecutive league games without a win, set all the way back in the 1934/35 campaign. It was also their first Premier League victory at Molineux since 2021. The Tottenham head coach that day was Nuno Espirito Santo, now the West Ham boss and desperate to ensure his old side go down instead than his current one.
It was a crazy eight-minute spell at the end of the two games. Spurs' goal gave them hope and then Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall made it even better briefly as he netted for Everton at West Ham to lift the north London club out of the bottom three.
Tottenham were only able to gulp the air for four minutes though as just after Everton had a big chance to take the lead, Callum Wilson slotted home an added time winner for the Hammers to jump back above their London rivals and send them back into the depths.
At Molineux, Kinsky at least ensured Spurs kept themselves in with a chance in the final moments.
"We have four finals [to come]. We need to do our jobs. Hopefully, this win can change things, give us a bit more motivation as well as it's been a long time without victories," said the other match-winner Palhinha, who has scored some of the big goals for Spurs this season.
"What we can control right now is doing our job until the end of the season and keeping the club where it belongs, which is the Premier League."
Tottenham needed something to change and De Zerbi has constantly said a long-awaited victory could do it.
"I think the players know what they are and what they can do on the pitch. Especially this season, because it's true, we didn't win a game in 2026, but finished fifth in the table in the Champions League," said the Italian.
"In the Champions League, I think it's not so easy or easier than the Premier League. So they have to be positive. They have to feel full confidence, because they are good and not to see the other results like West Ham. We have to move on and prepare for the next games. Now the first game is Villa Park and that's it."
The problem for De Zerbi is those constant injuries and he knows it.
"Yes I hope [this win changes things], but I wouldn't like to lose any other players, because Romero, Kudus, now Solanke and maybe Xavi," he said. "We can win the games with the players, not with the coaches. The coaches are important, but the players are more important."
Xavi's situation looked worrying. The Dutchman had struggled to make anywhere near the impact he did against Brighton, but had found the odd way through Wolves' packed defence.
The first came after a terrific driven pass from Porro sent him into the box but he fired over as a Wolves challenge came in.
His injury came from a touch and drive down the right as he was challenged by Hugo Bueno. Xavi was immediately screaming in pain, clutching his right knee and surrounded by his concerned team-mates.
Then he got up, had a little jog around the side of the pitch with the medics and promptly fell back to the floor before being stretchered off. If Tottenham's injury-ravaged season was summed up in one moment - that was it.
De Zerbi admitted to football.london afterwards that he was more concerned about Xavi than Solanke although he took some hope from a conversation he had with the Dutchman just before coming into his press conference.
"For Xavi it is a problem of his knee. We will see in the next days, Monday or Tuesday. For Solanke it is not a big problem. I don’t know how many games we lose him but I would like to know the situation with Xavi because the knee is always different than the muscular injury," he said.
"He felt pain. Now I spoke to him two, three minutes ago. He feels better than the beginning of the injury."
If De Zerbi has lost Xavi then Spurs are back where they were at the end of last season, trying to achieve something and create goals without a playmaker.
Back then they had no James Maddison nor Dejan Kulusevski. A year on and nothing has changed in that respect and now Xavi could join them. He will have his knee scanned in the days ahead but Spurs fans will place little hope on a process that has only delivered bad news this season.
Without the 23-year-old, De Zerbi is left only with willing runners rather than creative forces.
Conor Gallagher will sprint around the pitch until he drops. Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray will do the same. None of those three players are traditional number 10s though and De Zerbi hinted that it would have to be width that gets Spurs towards the goal if Xavi heads to the sidelines.
"We can play with Mathys Tel on the left. Kolo Muani on the right. Souza on the right. Bergvall on the left. We have to create," he said. "I don’t want to change too much (like) three defenders or four defenders, I don’t want to put more confusion on the players, especially this season because they changed a lot of tactical disposition.
"I want to be clear and simple but we need to stay strong in the head and positive in ourselves."
Kolo Muani is one of the most frustrating players De Zerbi has to call upon. The Frenchman has plenty of talent but wed to a yo-yoing level of consistency.
He began the game at Molineux looking like he could beat Hugo Bueno at will only to then spend the rest of the first half under-hitting passes to his team-mates or knocking it backwards as his confidence drained.
De Zerbi hooked him at half-time for Tel, who does not suffer from confidence issues, only decision-making in key areas. The younger Frenchman took the game to Wolves whenever he could and it was his energy and directness that earned that crucial corner in the 82nd minute.
The two Frenchmen could both be required in the remaining four matches of the season.
"Mathys Tel played 45 minutes very well," said De Zerbi. "At the beginning of the first half also Kolo Muani started very well the game and then he lost confidence.
"We have to go every day for lunch with Kolo Muani this week! Every day breakfast, lunch and dinner because he is a top player with potential and when he plays better he feels better on the pitch and he tried to go one v one, shoot, to do something more with more energy because he can do. He can do that."
Aside from chasing Kolo Muani around the canteen, De Zerbi needs to ensure this win is not simply a blip.
Up next is an immediate trip back up to the Midlands to face Aston Villa, between Unai Emery's side's two Europa League semi-final legs, before Leeds come to N17 eight days later.
The date of the trip to Stamford Bridge will be known after Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final against Leeds on Sunday before a final day clash with Everton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
"I believe we can stay up," declared De Zerbi. "If I [am] here, it's because I'm positive. Not because I'm coach of Tottenham. The most important thing is the qualities of the players and the human level of the players.
"It was a surprise for me, because I didn't know them and when I knew better my players, I understood we have the possibility and chance to stay up. We have two points. Not 10 points. We are two points from West Ham. They are a good team, but also Tottenham have very good players and are a very good team.
"I work with them every day and all the players are professional, good guys and they are suffering for this situation. Just [need] to give them confidence and order on the pitch, because I didn't like the second half at all.
"We could play better, we have to play better, much better than the second half. We have to play like the first 30 minutes. Maybe creating more chances to score and more shots on goal."
That will be the key. Others around Tottenham have been scoring goals and taking points. The north London side have finally remembered how to win a game of football, but it needs to be just the beginning of their great escape.
