Kane breaks another record as Spurs stutter to victory over paradoxical Wolves

Spurs were unconvincing but did enough against a paradoxical Wolves side thanks to that mischievous little record-breaker Harry Kane.

At some point Spurs are going to pay for starting games slowly, but for now finishing them fast is getting the job done.

This scrappy, hard-fought and barely-earned 1-0 win over a much-improved Wolves side made it seven points from nine for Spurs to start a season that promises so much.

Those seven points have also come from three fixtures in which Spurs earned zero points last campaign – which might be useful given they have a whopping eight points to ‘defend’ in their four games against Liverpool and Manchester City.

The first 45 minutes was arguably flatter and poorer even than the first half at Chelsea last weekend, and the fact the scoreline remained goalless owed more to Wolves’ lack of a goal threat than anything much Spurs did.

Even more so than last weekend, though, the second half was a different story. After what we can safely imagine was a pretty vocal and direct half-time performance from Antonio Conte, Spurs were vastly better in the second period.

Their improvement was not uniform, though. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, inexplicably handed man-of-the-match honours on BT Sport by Jermaine Jenas, retains his ability to butcher an attack from almost any position, most notably when failing to act for seconds that stretched out like hours when he had not one but two players screaming for the ball outside to his left. That tendency to the ponderous saw him caught a couple of times to start off Wolves counters that could have ruined Spurs’ day.

And are we already at a point where Heung-min Son’s form becomes a worry? Ponderous is one thing that could never normally be said of the Korean, but he was slow to react a couple of times here and his usual telepathic connection with Harry Kane was off kilter. Form is never a straight line and he will surely come good again, but in the immediate short-term he will be lucky to keep his place ahead of Richarlison who looked far livelier in a 15-minute, lead-protecting cameo.

Spurs’ victory was ultimately secured in the likeliest way: Kane heading home from a corner. This time it was smartly flicked on by Ivan Perisic to the back post where the slippery Kane had evaded his markers to nod home unmarked from close range.

By the time that goal arrived approaching the midway point of the half, the game had already changed. Spurs were buzzing around with menace and…