Tottenham 2-1 Southampton: Premier League – Three Key Moments
By Joe Mcindoe
Spurs See Red but Keep Their Head
A red card is supposed to be a punishment, but as the old football cliché goes it’s often harder to play against 10 men. Unfortunately for SFC the cliché proved to be a truism.
While Tottenham found themselves one goal to the good, Serge Aurier made his side’s life substantially more difficult as he picked up a double bookable. The first yellow occurred as the Ivory Coast international cut down Sofiane Boufal with a very clumsy sliding challenge and the second saw him adjudged to have brought Ryan Bertrand down.
Despite a quick equalizer via a Lloris howler, which allowed Ings to tap home from less than a yard out, Tottenham defended resolutely for the rest of the match.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side parked 10-men behind the ball and were quite happy to concede possession to the visitors. A James Ward Prowse free kick and a Maya Yoshida header forced excellent saves from the French stopper, but by and large he had very little to do.
BBC Sport reports that despite having just under 60% of the possession Southampton could only manage six shots on target the entire game. This is perhaps because the sending off focused minds and forced the former Champions League finalists to work on closing gaps in the box rather than marauding forward.
The trailing team played neat, patient, and ponderous football that rarely cut into the heart of the defence. The side often appeared to lack fresh ideas and continually attempted to enter the area from the wing. The ball would be worked across the pitch, to the wing before either being taken away by a spurs’ defender, or the angle of attack being changed by a Saint.
The pragmatic approach frustrated the travellers who seemed to have little idea as to how they could make their numerical advantage tell