The almost Mediterranean climate in north London this afternoon didn’t stop Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton putting on an entertaining display at White Hart Lane.
Both sides overcame the heat to put in two energetic performances that produced moments of occasional attacking brilliance, a whopping 30 shots and three decent if collectively unspectacular goals.
The Lilywhites’ Heung-Min Son opened the scoring after just 16 minutes with a curled effort from a tight angle, whilst Southampton hit back with two goals from the relatively unlikely source of midfielder Steven Davis.
Spurs finished up with twice the amount of efforts on goal as the visitors and the lion’s share of possession – a whopping 67% – but two breakaway goals saw Ronald Koeman’s side come out on top.
We at Football Fancast are firm believers that there are lessons to be learned from every match, whether it’s a relegation playoff in the German third tier or the World Cup final. So with that in mind, here are the FIVE things we learned from Southampton’s 2-1 win.
HEUNG-MIN SON COULD BE A FORCE NEXT SEASON
Despite arriving at a cost of £22million last summer, marking one of the most expensive transfers in Tottenham Hotspur history, Heung-Min Son has been forced to accept the role of support act this season amid the Lilywhites’ unexpected charge for the Premier League title.
But the South Korean international boasts a strong reputation from his time with Bayer Leverkusen and despite his limited game-time this season remains highly-rated by the north London faithful. The winger-forward justified those opinions today, delicately dribbling the ball along the by-line before cutting inside and netting past Fraser Forster to open the scoring on the 16th-minute mark.
Bearing in mind the old adage of allowing a season to settle and that Tottenham’s title ambitions have forced Mauricio Pochettino to use him sparingly this term, the 23-year-old looks ready to make a huge impact next season, now boasting two goals in his last three starts for the Lilywhites.
HUGO LLORIS’ FATAL FLAW STRIKES AGAIN
The debate perhaps doesn’t receive the attention it deserves but opinions on Tottenham Hotspur’s Hugo Lloris are incredibly divided. A captain at club and international level, for a title-contending Spurs side and a Euro 2016 contending France side, many believe the 28-year-old is at least on the peripheries of world-class moving only closer to the centre of that bracket.
Yet, the 28-year-old is plagued by a few recurring flaws – most particularly his distribution and handling, which were both shown up against Southampton today. Lloris’ poor clearance squandered possession to the visitors before letting an incredibly tame near-post effort from Steven Davis somehow trickle below his hand and into the net.
No doubt, Lloris has produced far more moments of brilliance than disappointment throughout his White Hart Lane career. But goalkeeping mistakes are always incredibly costly and there’s a few too many in the France international’s game.
TAKE A BOW, STEVEN DAVIS
In the beautiful game, every dog – no matter how mangy, mutty or ugly – eventually has his day. Not that I’d describe Southampton’s Steven Davis in any of those terms, but he’s nonetheless a very consistent, hardworking player whose performances often don’t receive the credit they deserve.
Well, all the headlines (at least in Southampton) will be entirely devoted to the northern Ireland international following today’s impressive result. As aforementioned, he sneaked a shot past Hugo Lloris in the first half to draw Southampton level, but the tireless midfielder also popped up with another after 72 minutes that ultimately proved to be the winner – curling an effort between the legs of several Spurs players to beat the France No.1 yet again.
In a busy afternoon for the 31-year-old, he also completed three successful dribbles, one interception and two tackles.
Southampton are the Prem’s resident giant killers
It was an impressive result for Southampton this afternoon but those who have watched Ronald Koeman’s boys all season wouldn’t be too surprised.
Whether it’s due to tactics, player selection or individual motivations remains open to debate but the Saints really turn it on against the Premier League’s top clubs and today’s result is just one in a season of many impressive scalps.
Indeed, the south coast outfit have taken points against Chelsea, Leicester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, West Ham, Manchester United, Manchester City this season and now Spurs as well – meaning they’ve claimed at least a draw against every team above them in the Premier League table and every team in the top half except for Stoke City.
If Southampton can improve their form against the division’s lesser sides, they could be a real force next season. The next Leicester City, anyone?
Arsenal have a good chance of finishing above Spurs
A few weeks ago, it seemed inevitable this would become the season in which Spurs finally finish above bitter rivals Arsenal, who have dominated bragging rights in north London throughout the Premier League era.
That could still be the case with Spurs three points ahead before today’s game, but the shock defeat to Southampton does give the Gunners a real chance of gazumping Mauricio Pochettino’s side at the last minute with both clubs leaning their heads over the finish line.
The timing of this article means we can’t speculate on the result of Arsenal’s game against Manchester City at the Etihad. But Tottenham’s final clash of the season will be against a Newcastle United side in desperate need of a win (provided Sunderland don’t beat Everton in midweek to conclude the relegation race), whilst Arsenal face already relegated Aston Villa.
Most would deem it an enormous injustice considering how well Spurs have played this season, but they say the league table doesn’t lie come the end of May.
