It was an enthralling performance from Tottenham on Sunday night, running out 5-0 winners against Southampton. The 5 goals in the first half were a feast for our eyes, and much needed to end a poor run of form.
Djed Spence turned and ran through the Southampton midfield before playing a perfectly weighted ball to James Maddison who coolly slotted in the opener after just 36 seconds. It was 2-0 shortly after as Maddison’s deflected cross was clinically finished by Heung-Min Son. It was 3-0 before the 15 minute mark as Kulusevski tapped home after a Son cross fell to him. Southampton made a change after those disastrous 15 minutes for them and St Mary’s became incredibly toxic and called for their manager to be sacked, which did happen just an hour after the match. The goalscoring from Spurs didn’t stop though – Pape Matar Sarr dribbled through a few Southampton players before firing home into the bottom left corner. Son’s beautiful ball down the line to Maddison led to Maddison cutting inside and striking the ball into the top right corner from a tight angle.
As is usually the case when the first half is so good, the second half was a dull affair. Tottenham players looked like they were playing to conserve some energy as Manchester United and Liverpool are our opponents coming up tomorrow (Thursday 19th December) and Sunday respectively.
It was Lucas Bergvall’s first Premier League start, and Djed Spence’s first Tottenham start, and both marked the occasion with fine performances. Spence’s assist inside the first minute showed what he can offer us in attack, and he defended well throughout – even though Southampton did not show a lot of quality. Bergvall also looked very assured in his midfield role and impressed. Young defender Alfie Dorrington made his debut for Tottenham, coming off the bench in the second half and kept the clean sheet in tact, and there were more minutes for Will Lankshear. Having Gray, Bergvall, Dorrington and Lankshear on the pitch at the same time meant that Tottenham are the first team to have 4 teenagers playing on the pitch at the same time for a club this season.
Archie Gray looked reassured at centre-back yet again, and his versatility is very useful for us. During this injury crisis, he can fill in at centre-back, full-back on both sides or the midfield. He’s very calm in each role and that is an impressive trait.
Ange Postecoglou had songs sung from the travelling away fans in a clear message in his favour, showing they back him. Daniel Levy on the other hand was not receiving the same support, as “I don’t care about Levy, he don’t care about me, all I care about is Kulusevski” was picked up plenty of times by the TV audio. It will be interesting to see if that chant catches on during the upcoming home games.