It was that man Harry Kane, who was the difference between the two sides at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. Despite going down to ten men in the first half an hour, Pochettino’s men were able to hold out for a much needed three points.
Tottenham had been on the receiving end of a lot of pressure for the first quarter of an hour as it almost seemed as though they were sitting waiting for an opportunity to pounce and pounce they did. A sharp turn around in possession saw the ball released wide to Christian Eriksen, which is always a worrying sight for defending sides.
Eriksen whipped the ball into the box from the right-hand side and the ball fell to Heung-min Son, who laid the ball off to Tanguy Ndombele on the edge of the box. The strike which followed was a solid one, however, Angus Gunn seemed to drop down to his left-hand side before the ball was even struck, and as the ball went hard and true through the middle, his movement subsequently left him with no chance of saving it.
At this point, Pochettino’s men were controlling the game and containing Southampton. Up steps Serge Aurier, throwing a spanner in Spurs’ works. Two yellow cards in the space of four minutes left Pochettino with ten men for the remaining 60 minutes. His first yellow came due to a silly foul committed on Sofiane Boufal, who looked to be Southampton’s brightest player on the pitch. Aurier won the ball but stupidly went in with two feet, and the follow-up contact was the bookable offence. The second yellow was simply idiotic from the Ivorian. Boufal was played through by Ryan Bertrand and Aurier, who was no less than five metres away from the ball, blatantly grabbed Boufal and dragged him to the floor, resulting in a fair but silly second yellow.
What shortly followed rubbed a bucket load of salt in Spurs’ wound, as Danny Ings dogged running resulted in his second goal in as many games. Initially, it seemed a simple manoeuvre as Vertonghen passed the ball back to Hugo Lloris for him to spread the play. When Lloris received the ball, Ings was on the edge of the box. A combination of Ings’ determinedness and Lloris’ dilly-dallying lead to the ball in the back of Spurs’ net. With only ten men on the pitch, it was looking to be Southampton’s day.
The red card egged Southampton on, and as they pilled the pressure on, Harry Kane just bid his time. And his time came, just before the stroke of half-time Spurs conducted an excellent counter-attack consisting of Son, Eriksen and Kane. It was finished beautifully from inside the box by Kane, a recurring theme for the England frontman and with that, the first half finished at 2-1.
Spurs barely saw the ball in the second half, however managed to hang on by the skin of their teeth. Despite his mistake earlier on that lead to the Southampton goal, Lloris more than made up for it in the second half with two outstanding saves that kept Spurs in front, and the game ended 2-1 – an important three points for Spurs. However, Ralph Hasenhuttl will feel that his side should have taken points from that game, which in itself is a positive.
Pochettino masterclass
If there is anyone who should be praised for those three points, it is Mauricio Pochettino. His game management was absolutely perfect. Southampton were fresh off of a 4-0 win at Portsmouth and were out looking for blood. Pochettino bid his time and trusted in his defences ability and was relying on the speed and quality of his counter-attacks; which when you have Kane, Son and Eriksen is a fairly easy thing to do.
Even with the dispatching of Aurier in the 31st minute, Poch’s tactics were spot on. The second half consisted of ten men behind the ball and trying not to concede as they recorded no shots on Saints’ goal in the second half.
One man who put a serious shift in to prevent a Southampton second was Moussa Sissoko, his constant work rate and dogged defending allowed Saints absolutely no time to try and pick a pinpoint pass. Pochettino will be disappointed that his side had to manage the game in the way they did, but should also be extremely proud of his side for effectively coming out of a fairly dingy situation to win the game.
Saints high-press
Hasenhuttl will be disappointed that his side didn’t come away from Wembley with at least a point at the weekend, however one thing that can be taken away from the game is that his high press is certainly working against the big sides, forcing mistakes out of goalkeepers and defences.
Ings’ goal on Saturday was extremely similar circumstances to the goal he scored against Liverpool in their 2-1 defeat at St. Marys. The rapid closing down of the goalkeepers almost forces them into a panic which leads to an error. It can be seen all across the pitch and with workers like Pierre Emile Hojbjerg and Oriol Romeu, it will be an effective tactic to implement throughout the season.
Defensive dilemma for Hasenhuttl
Hasenhuttl has been on the receiving end of criticism this week through his seeming reluctancy to play defenders in their natural position. In the last month Saints fans have seen Vestergaard (CB) at right-back, Hojbjerg (CM) at left-back and Danso (CB) at left-back – all while Yan Valery and Ryan Bertrand were sitting on the bench.
It’s all rather confusing as Vestergaard may be good in the air, but is prone to making judgemental mistakes and positioning errors, whereas Valery was on fire towards the end of last season. The only difference that can be seen by the naked eye was that Valery was playing more of a wing-back role, compared to Cedric playing the classic full-back.
Poor finishing killing Saints
Hasenhuttl must address the finishing within his squad. For the second Premier League game in a row, Southampton have had more possession, more shots and more shots on target, and lost the game. Bournemouth was simply ridiculous, 25 shots compared with seven, and the weekend just passed they had 14 compared to Spurs’ nine.
Against a ten-man side for a whole half and not being able to score says that there is not enough attacking flair in the side. Excusing Sofiane Boufal, there just isn’t enough inspiration through the middle. James Ward-Prowse isn’t looking like the player he was at the end of last season and the two holding midfielders are there to do what they do best, hold. Southampton showed what they can do against Portsmouth on Tuesday, but just need to find that little spark of inspiration to get them in and amongst the goals, which I am sure Danny Ings and Che Adams are itching to do.
Man of the Match
One players performance that needs to mentioned was that of Hugo Lloris. The mental strength to come back from that horrendous mistake in the first half, to save the game on multiple occasions has to be commended. Firstly, his save against Ward-Prowse’s free-kick was excellent as he was scrambling, and everyone knows how dangerous JWP can be from set-pieces. Secondly, his save from Maya Yoshida’s bullet header. The MOTM went to Harry Kane; however, I personally believe it should have gone to Hugo Lloris simply for his second-half performance alone.
Next Up:
Tottenham travel to the south coast to face Brighton whilst Southampton host Chelsea.
