Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 Southampton: Match recap
By Chris Hughes
This Boxing Day Southampton were embarrassed at Wembley Stadium by the Spurs, as one Mauricio heaped a lot more pressure on the other.
It was Harry Kane’s afternoon as the English striker scored another hattrick to take his tally to 56 goals for the calendar – more than Lionel Messi or any other player in European football for club and country.
Furthermore, the 24-year-old broke Alan Shearer’s 20-year-standing record for goals in a calendar year, only emphasising how deadly a striker he really is.
The Saints made four changes going into the game, with Shane Long replacing the suspended and injured Charlie Austin. Southampton were also still without full-backs Cedric Soares and Ryan Bertrand once again, and their absence was duly felt.
The result sees the Saints slip beneath Stoke City to 14th, with two teams beneath them still to play before the gameweek is out. Mauricio Pellegrino’s side are two points above the drop zone with Manchester United the team’s next opponents.
The jury is well and truly out for the Argentine with even more supporters believing the 46-year-old should be sacked before the new year.
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It look just over 20 minutes for the home side to take the lead, with Harry Kane continuing his rich vein of form with a poacher’s effort off of a freekick from Christian Eriksen.
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Tottenham then scored either side of half time to give themselves a resounding lead in the 49th minute. Kane added his second just before the interval, before Dele Alli scored his four Premier League goal of the campaign. Two minutes later Heung-Min Son added Tottenham’s fourth as the embarrassment set in for many of the Saints fans who had travelled to London for the encounter.
But not all hope was lost for the Saints as the hour mark passed, as Sofiane Boufal scored a nice low finish to make the score 4-1.
However, Kane completed his second hattrick in as many games within minutes of the Moroccan’s tidy finish, with the Englishman taking his season tally to 18 goals in 19 games.
Substitute Dusan Tadic added a consolation for the away side as the two teams entered the final ten minutes – the Serbian’s looping finish was his third of the season.
Next up for the Saints is the small matter of a trip to Old Trafford, before facing Crystal Palace shortly after the turn of the year.