|
Post by Football News on Dec 19, 2015 17:34:02 GMT
Harry Kane scores as Tottenham beat Southampton to go fourth Southampton 0 - 2 SpursAway team scorers Harry Kane 40 Dele Alli 43 Harry Kane applauds the away supporters at the final whistle. Ronald Koeman was mentioned in connection with the Chelsea job earlier this week but the signs are growing that he has more than enough to concern him closer to home. This defeat was Southampton’s fifth in their last six Premier League games and, while this group of players does not look to share the woebegone appearance of others that have nosedived this season, the increased regularity of their failings at both ends will set alarm bells ringing. Tottenham Hotspur were nowhere near their best here but the worry for Southampton was that it was not required of them. After a sharp first half-hour by the home side came to nothing, they contrived two pieces of disastrous defending to effectively concede the match in a three-minute spell before half-time. After Harry Kane – on his 100th Tottenham appearance – was allowed to run through non-existent challenges to score, Dele Alli was similarly undetained to double the lead and Mauricio Pochettino could leave his former place of employment with what was ultimately a straightforward three points. Koeman had protested that his side’s stuttering form owed nothing to a lack of creativity, and a fast start served to underscore the point. Five minutes had elapsed when Steven Davis, who had led a ferocious early press from the home team, to release Sadio Mané in the inside-right channel. Toby Alderweireld, an excellent performer here last season during a loan from Atlético Madrid and spared much opprobrium despite his controversial summer move, was quickly across to block the forward’s volley. Mané soon had a clearer sight of goal, Hugo Lloris getting down well to repel his side footed effort from Dusan Tadic’s low centre. The save was impressive, but Mané could reflect that a less centrally-placed shot would surely have been beyond the goalkeeper’s reach. Perhaps it was no bad thing for Tottenham that, whether or not deliberately seeking a breather, Lloris twice courted the crowd’s ire by delaying goal-kicks. This was something close to the incisive Southampton of the autumn, and when Mané appeared on the opposite side of the box after another Tadic pass it was Jan Vertonghen’s turn to thwart the danger. After half an hour, snatched efforts from Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela and Alli had been the sum of the visitors’ threat. What happened next bore the hallmark of a side whose confidence has taken a beating. Tottenham had improved as half-time neared but it was still a surprise when Kane, released after Mousa Dembéle had won the ball bravely, was allowed to run past two defenders and, gifted a clear sight of goal by Virgil van Dijk’s decision to take a wild swipe at the ball when standing his ground would have sufficed, beat Paulo Gazzaniga comfortably. José Fonte was booked for clattering Dembéle in the buildup; anything approaching that level of resistance to what ensured might have served Southampton better. Within three minutes, Kyle Walker was allowed to advance unopposed down the right and, with Van Dijk backing off, centred low. With none of the home team’s back five showing any appetite to command the six-yard box and the right-back, Cédric Soares, particularly conspicuous by his absence, Alli could take a touch before completing the simplest of finishes. A two-goal margin was generous in the extreme to Pochettino’s team but there was little solace in that. Southampton had brought the situation on themselves and showed little sign of correcting it despite dominating the second half territorially. Graziano Pellè, passed fit to play after receiving a knee injection earlier in the week, had a 20-yard shot plucked from the air by Lloris but, despite some neat touches, looked short of the swashbuckling figure who bullies defences when at full tilt. Endeavour was not lacking but chances were few. The substitute Shane Long shanked a cross into the stand with Juanmi, another replacement, unmarked in the middle; Juanmi then saw a shot smartly blocked by Walker with 15 minutes to play. That crispness of the early stages had long since been replaced by bluster and when an opportunity did come it was not until added time, when James Ward-Prowse forced Lloris to better his first-half save. Tottenham had drawn their sting; Southampton had long since shot themselves in the foot. Guardian
|
|