Tottenham 2-1 Southampton: Six Things

Alli nets the pen in Kane’s absence – mirror.co.uk

First half goals from Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli helped Tottenham to a 2-1 win over 10th place Southampton – but what have we learnt from the game?

Tottenham’s bright start

Southampton had to stay focused as Tottenham probed early on. The big question was whether they would miss the power and goalscoring instincts of the injured Harry Kane. The 24-goal man was replaced by Heung-Min Son, who missed early on having been played through by Eriksen. The Dutchman struck on 14 minutes however when the Southampton defences dropped too deep, allowing him to drive home from range.

Southampton had their moments

Oriol Romeu responded to Eriksen’s opener with another long-range effort, this one flying a whisker wide of Hugo Lloris’ right-hand post. Manolo Gabbiadini fired onto the side-netting after Dusan Tadic’s 27th minute pull-back, before Tadic himself soon missed a sitter from close-range, only to find out the ball had gone out of play.

Bad end to the half for the Saints

Gabbiadini fractured his groin after his aforementioned effort and while Shane Long was waiting to come on in his place, after Steven Davis brought down Dele Alli in the box. Alli netted from the spot on 38 minutes and to make matters worse, Tadic picked up a knock after arguably an even worse challenge in the box just before the break, but got nothing.

Spurs’ second half wobble

The home defence lost concentration allowing Ryan Bertrand to attack down the left. When his delivery was not cleared, James Ward-Prowse was there to pounce for his third of the season. Southampton continued to apply the pressure with Davis teeing up Shane Long for a right-footed effort that forced a save from Hugo Lloris, but the Irishman was caught offside on other occasions.

The storm was weathered

The arrival of Harry Winks, who has impressed in the FA Cup this term, gave Tottenham a spell of possession and a stronger grip of the midfield. Southampton’s late attacks were individualistic and incoherent, meaning Victor Wanyama and the Spurs back three repelled them with relative ease. Substitute Vincent Janssen could have made the game safe but saw his tight-angled shot saved by Lloris. Southampton substitute Sofiane Boufal then gave the Spurs back-line a nervy moment, firing wide when given space to shoot.

What it means

Southampton did not disgrace themselves and after a first half in which nothing went their way, they did well to take the game to the wire. As much as defeat, the biggest concern is the injury to Gabbiadini, whose performances had been key to their upturn in form. Tottenham tighten their grip on 2nd place with a victory after a 10th win in 13 – they are perhaps unlucky that Chelsea’s dominance renders their form insignificant in terms of the title race.