Joao Palhinha poked in a late winner for Tottenham as they picked up their first Premier League victory of 2026 in a 1-0 win at Wolves that gives them hope of survival.
It was a dramatic finale at Molineux even after the substitute put Spurs in front as Everton equalised against West Ham to briefly lift Roberto De Zerbi's team out of the relegation zone before Callum Wilson's late winner for the Hammers muted the celebrations somewhat.
But it just made the three points even more important for Tottenham on an afternoon when they lost Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons to injury. They remain two points behind West Ham but retain hopes of staying in the Premier League - thanks to Palhinha.
Spurs started brightly but were able to create little of note in a first half that was played at a tempo that belied the urgency of their situation. Injuries to Solanke and then Simons, soon after missing a good chance, added to the nervousness from away fans inside the ground.
Wolves grew in confidence once news of West Ham's opener against Everton heaped the pressure on their tentative opponents and twice went close through Adam Armstrong. But the game turned on a corner that was well won by Mathys Tel.
Pedro Porro's ball in found Richarlison who was able to force it goalwards where fellow substitute Palhinha was waiting to stab home. There were still an awkward moments to endure when Antonin Kinsky dived to keep out Joao Gomes' 98th-minute free-kick.
But Spurs held on for a win that could yet prove to be a huge one in their history if it provides the turning point for them, a catalyst for staying in the Premier League. Without this win, they would be four adrift with four games to play. Finally, they have some hope.
Tottenham match-winner Joao Palhinha asked if this changes things for Spurs:
"I don't know, hopefully it changes, that's the reality, but this victory is much more than that. For me, for my team-mates and especially for all the club, for the supporters as well. It's not a normal season that we have been leading until today.
"We all have responsibility in this season, but the reality is we have four finals into the final of the league and we need to do our job and hopefully this win can change what happened in the past, give us a bit more motivation as well, because it's been a long time without victories. Especially in some of the games that we should have taken some more points, much more.
"I think it happened a lot, but sometimes it's the details. But what we can control right now is making our job until the end of the season and try to keep the club where it belongs, which is the Premier League, and it's much more than that.
"We all want to give something and we will give everything that we have until the end of the season, because it means a lot for us to keep the Premier League."
Tottenham head coach Robert De Zerbi speaking in the press conference:
"In the first half, in the first 35 minutes, we played well. We didn't create big chances to score but anyway we had the control of the game, total control of the game.
"And then [in the second half], I don't know, the pressure, maybe that we didn't win any game in 2026, maybe this pressure, maybe because we played against Wolverhampton, [already] relegated, and we lost distances, we lost order on the pitch.
"I hope this result can change something in our head, in our mentality. And as for the other result, it's really very tough to win a game for us, if we put our head on the other teams, it becomes too tough."
He added: "The most important 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 that we have the possibility, the chance to stay up.
"If you watch the game on the stand or TV, you can't understand if they have the right spirit, they have the right attitude, and [now] I work with them every day.
"All players are professional, good guys, they are suffering for this situation. [I want] 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."
On the injuries to Solanke and Simons:
"Solanke is a muscular injury, I don't know what level of injury, and for Xavi it's a problem of the knee. We're going to see in the next days, Monday or Tuesday.
"For Solanke it's not a big problem, I don't know how many games we lose him, but I would like to know the situation of Xavi, because the knee is always different than the muscular injury.
"I spoke with him two minutes ago, he feels better than at the beginning of the injury."
On Kinsky's key save at the end:
"He deserves this day because he played very well, especially today, he was crucial for the result. He deserves everything, because he's a good guy, he's a good 'keeper, and especially after Madrid, he deserves one day like today."
Wolves boss Rob Edwards speaking in the press conference:
"It is not as easy as turning up and just beating Tottenham because they've been having a bad time. They've got a lot of good players and their motivation level is incredibly high.
"It might sound weird to you all, I don't know if you really fully appreciate what I'm saying. It's been really challenging this week for us, you know, officially relegated. It's been really tough. So, for the players to give everything and match their intensity and match Tottenham's levels of work rate, the lads deserve a lot of credit for that.
"I thought they were brilliant throughout the whole game, the supporters. I've not got a negative word to say about them at all. Like I said, we've lost three in a row, we're bottom of the league and were relegated this week. They're not going to be happy.
"But what I need everyone to understand is that everyone's giving their all. Everyone's giving their all and it's going to take some time to turn this around. We're not in the middle of a transfer window now. We can't change loads. We're trying.
"At the moment, times are tough. We've got to stand up, take it, and then hopefully in a year's time, we're sitting in a much more positive place.
"The situation is there's four more games left and we've got to make sure we turn up and we fight. Again, I looked around the room at the very end and went round every single one of them. There's not one there I could say gave up, didn't try. Not one of them. They gave their all today.
"It's hard because people don't want to hear it after we've lost, but there were some really good performances there today and there was a real commitment from all of them. There really was. They're really, really trying. They're with it. They're with us. They're fighting.
"It's been hard this week. The final nail in the coffin, relegated. Maybe other teams would have just gone under completely today and it might have been an absolute shambles.
"It wasn't that. It was a proper game of football, but we've lost it, so people say what they want to say about that. That's fine. But those boys that were out there today gave everything."
