Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Southampton: 3 reasons why Spurs won the game | Premier League 2019/20
When Tottenham Hotspur hosted Southampton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, Spurs knew very well that they could no longer afford to slip up in the Premier League. Mauricio Pochettino’s men were already on a woeful run of three games without a win and had won just one of their last five games. Spurs were 7th in the table and were dangerously slipping out of the title race.
Pochettino wanted a response from his team, after exiting the Carabao Cup in midweek at the hands of Colchester. The Argentinean had a near-fit squad for the tie, even though he was still missing long term absentees Ryan Sessegnon and Giovani Lo Celso. Pochettino named his team carefully, keeping in mind that his former team had won the same number of games as Tottenham this season.
Tottenham Hotspurs Starting XI: Huge Lloris; Serge Aurier, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose; Moussa Sissoko, Harry Winks, Tanguy Ndombele; Son Heung-min, Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen.
Tottenham was the better team in the opening stages and took the lead through Tanguy Ndombele in the 24th minute. Spurs were hit with a bolt from the blue when Serge Aurier picked up his second yellow card of the game and was given his marching orders in the 31st minute.
To make matters worse, the Saints got back into the game when Danny Ings forced Hugo Lloris to make a mistake and went on to score the equalizer in the 39th minute. However, Harry Kane put his team back in the lead four minutes later and it proved to be the winning goal of the game. Here are three reasons why Tottenham won the game.
#3 Resolute defending from Tottenham Hotspur
After Serge Aurier headed back to the dressing room, Mauricio Pochettino decided against making a defensive substitution. The Argentinean opted for Moussa Sissoko in the right-back position and it helped Spurs stay compact at the back.
In addition to the Frenchman, the rest of the backline also played their hearts out and defended with their lives at times. Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld were rock-solid at the center of the backline, while Danny Rose admirably mixed hardcore defending with adventure in the opposition third. There was nothing they could do about Southampton’s equalizer, but after Spurs had reinstated their lead, the backline displayed resolute defending to help their team earn all three points.
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