James Ward-Prowse’s stoppage-time penalty earned Southampton a hard-fought level in a bonkers 3-3 draw at dwelling to Tottenham within the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
The Saints trailed 3-1 with lower than quarter-hour to play earlier than Theo Walcott halved the deficit and Ward-Prowse stepped as much as ship a captain’s contribution, banishing latest recollections of missed spot kicks to spank an equaliser previous his former teammate Fraser Forster.
The primary half was punctuated by match-ending accidents for 4 gamers break up between either side. Southampton misplaced their beginning centre-backs to a dislocated shoulder and a damaged rib sandwiched between muscular issues for Tottenham’s Richarlison and Ben Davies.
Each medical departments had way more work to do than both goalkeeper within the opening 45 minutes which noticed zero photographs on track.
Pedro Porro broke the impasse in one of many seven minutes added on to compensate for the raft of accidents. After such a disciplined show for a lot of the primary half, Southampton’s first lapse in focus was ruthlessly punished.
Dejan Kulusevski led Romain Perraud infield, leaving a yawning chasm for Porro to sneak into. With Mohamed Elyounoussi tired of monitoring again, the superior wingback had the liberty of the south coast to take a contact and crash his maiden aim for Spurs off the underside of the crossbar.
The Saints have been degree inside 45 seconds of the restart, punishing the same blackout that Spurs exploited earlier than the break. Theo Walcott creaked right into a dash behind Ivan Perisic – considered one of Tottenham’s two enforced modifications – firing the ball throughout the field for Che Adams to stab off the put up and over the road.
Spurs have been wobbled by the swift concession however managed to return the sport to a pedestrian tempo they have been way more snug with. Kulusevski chopped onto his left foot in gradual movement, lazily swinging a cross right into a crowded field. Regardless of purple and white shirts both aspect of him, Harry Kane barely needed to transfer to nod Spurs again in entrance together with his ninth headed aim of the league season.
In a frankly weird match on the south coast, two very uncommon scorers discovered the web inside 5 minutes of one another. Perisic scored his first membership aim in ten months, swatting a left-footed volley into the turf and over Gavin Bazunu’s dive simply moments earlier than Theo Walcott broke a scoring drought stretching again virtually two years.
Antonio Conte’s aspect did not clear a set piece within the closing quarter-hour, limply permitting Walcott the prospect to bobbly a volley of his personal past Forster.
Tottenham’s indecision seeped into stoppage time and the substitutes bench as Pape Sarr was deemed to have linked with Kamaldeen Sulemana’s heels moments after his late arrival. Ward-Prowse’s emphatic conversion is not sufficient to raise Southampton off the foot of the desk however the Saints are simply two factors from security.
GK: Gavin Bazunu – 5/10 – Couldn’t do something to rebuff Porro or Kane from shut vary and was overwhelmed by the bounce of Perisic’s effort.
RB: Kyle Walker-Peters – 5/10 – Reluctant to creep too far ahead for worry of leaving room for Son to use.
CB: Jan Bednarek – N/A – Diligently adopted Kane when he wandered deep, getting touch-tight to England’s skipper earlier than he bought too shut and was pressured off with a dig within the ribs.
CB: Armel Bella-Kotchap – N/A – Pressured off clutching his proper arm throughout the first ten minutes.
LB: Romain Perraud – 3/10 – The act of following Kulusevski infield is hardly felony however the lack of communication with Elyounoussi proved expensive.
RM: Stuart Armstrong – 5/10 – Skirted across the fringes of the competition.
CM: James Ward-Prowse – 7/10 – Grew into the got here, more and more getting his foot on the ball after the break.
CM: Romeo Lavia – 6/10 – Sliced by way of Spurs with a surgical through-ball to set Walcott away for the equaliser.
LM: Mohamed Elyounoussi – 3/10 – Did not shirk his defensive duties all recreation however did fully ignore the brilliant turquoise shirt on their lonesome in his crew’s penalty space for the opening aim.
ST: Che Adams – 6/10 – Drifting behind Walcott, Adams burst into the field to hyperlink up together with his strike accomplice completely.
ST: Theo Walcott – 6/10 – Perched on the final shoulder of the defender, the 34-year-old would not have fairly the identical electrical tempo however had sufficient to hare away from Tottenham’s backline.
Substitutes
Mohammed Salisu (8′ for Bella-Kotchap) – 6/10 – Just a little overeager however bought his head to a raft of balls tossed into the field.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles (34′ for Bednarek) – 5/10 – Shunted into an ungainly centre-back slot.
Sekou Mara (70′ for Adams) – 5/10 – A nagging menace following his arrival however lacked the leading edge.
Kamaldeen Sulemana (70′ for Elyounoussi) – 5/10
Carlos Alcaraz (70′ for Armstrong) – 5/10
Supervisor
Ruben Selles – 5/10 – Southampton confirmed loads of shiny patches whereas conceding some boneheaded objectives.
GK: Fraser Forster – 6/10 – Might hardly be blamed for conceding from point-blank vary however smothered Mara nicely within the closing levels.
CB: Cristian Romero – 6/10 – Entrance-footed as ever when Spurs did not have the ball.
CB: Eric Dier – 6/10 – Just a little hesitant at occasions however strolled across the center of Tottenham’s again three with out a lot fuss.
CB: Clement Lenglet – 4/10 – So predictable when limply rolling the ball into Harry Kane’s toes.
RWB: Pedro Porro – 7/10 – Continually probing Southampton’s backline with passes and runs into the ultimate third.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6/10 – There was no love misplaced on Hojbjerg’s return to his former aspect with a characteristically unforgiving and forceful show.
CM: Oliver Skipp – 6/10 – Circulated possession safely if not at all times spectacularly.
LWB: Ben Davies – N/A – The fourth participant to fall foul of an damage within the opening 37 minutes on a cursed afternoon at St Mary’s.
RW: Richarlison – N/A – Decreased to tears as he limped off the pitch after three minutes.
ST: Harry Kane – 5/10 – Dropped deep right into a crowd of purple and white repeatedly.
LW: Son Heung-min – 6/10 – Noticed Porro in house and performed the superbly weighted cross to search out him however light thereafter.
Substitutes
Dejan Kulusevski (5′ for Richarlison) – 6/10 – Manipulated Perraud with and with out the ball.
Ivan Perisic (37′ for Davies) – 5/10 – Switched off for Southampton’s equaliser, missing any burst of restoration tempo to catch Walcott however responded with a aim of his personal. Blended.
Emerson Royal (86′ for Porro) – N/A
Pape Sarr (86′ for Kulusevski) – N/A – Delivered the precise reverse affect Conte was in search of.
Supervisor
Antonio Conte – 3/10 – Spurs sleepwalked by way of a lot of the competition, barely breaking out of their stupor in a match they have been fortuitous to attract.
