Tottenham Hotspur suffered a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, with manager Ange Postecoglou blaming “uncharacteristic individual errors” for the miserable result.
Spurs got off to a rocky start at Molineux Stadium as Rayan Ait-Nouri needed just two minutes to break the deadlock, volleying home in a wayward effort that somehow nestled in the corner.
Despite the early setback, Spurs controlled much of the first half but struggled to create any worthwhile chances, although Jose Sa was called into action to deny Yves Bissouma.
Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson also came close to drawing Spurs level, but Wolves piled on the misery as they doubled their lead through an unfortunate own goal from Djed Spence.
Tottenham upped the ante after the restart. Mathys Tel halved the deficit on 59 minutes, turning in a low cross from Brennan Johnson.
But just five minutes later, Wolves restored their two-goal cushion as Ait-Nouri beat Cristian Romero and delivered a perfect cross for Jorgen Strand Larsen to tap in.
There was a glimmer of hope late on when Richarlison nodded in from close range after Romero’s header came off the crossbar.
However, Wolves refused to let up as Matheus Cunha slotted in a fourth almost immediately after Richarlison gave his side a lifeline.
Despite watching his side collapse to a 17th Premier League defeat this season, Postecoglou took some positives from their attacking endeavours but admitted his side “paid the price” for costly errors.
“It was a bit of a funny game for us,” Postecoglou said in his post-match interview. “I thought our general football was good.
“This is not an easy place to come to, but we conceded goals on the back of uncharacteristic individual errors, and when that happens, it’s very hard to get a result.”
Postecoglou’s future at Spurs is hanging on a knife edge, although that has been the case for large parts of the season.
However, he still has a lifeline – the Europa League. His side will have to shrug off the disappointing result against Wolves ahead of their quarter-final tie decider against Eintracht Frankfurt.
If Tottenham fail to win the Europa League, Postecoglou will likely be out of a job in the summer, although there are reports that his future is already set in stone regardless of what happens in Europe.