James Ward-Prowse’s stoppage-time penalty earned Southampton a hard-fought level in a bonkers 3-3 draw at house 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 first half was punctuated by match-ending accidents for 4 gamers cut 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.
Both medical departments had much more work to do than both goalkeeper within the opening 45 minutes which noticed zero pictures heading in the right direction.
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 had been degree inside 45 seconds of the restart, punishing an analogous blackout that Spurs exploited earlier than the break. Theo Walcott creaked right into a dash behind Ivan Perisic – one in every of Tottenham’s two enforced adjustments – firing the ball throughout the field for Che Adams to stab off the publish and over the road.
Spurs had been wobbled by the swift concession however managed to return the sport to a pedestrian tempo they had been far more comfy with. Kulusevski chopped onto his left foot in gradual movement, lazily swinging a cross right into a crowded field. Despite crimson and white shirts both facet 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 online 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 facet didn’t clear a set piece within the ultimate quarter-hour, limply permitting Walcott the possibility 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 related 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 – Could not do something to rebuff Porro or Kane from shut vary and was crushed by the bounce of Perisic’s effort.
RB: Kyle Walker-Peters – 5/10 – Reluctant to creep too far ahead for concern of leaving room for Son to take advantage of.
CB: Jan Bednarek – N/A – Diligently adopted Kane when he wandered deep, getting touch-tight to England’s skipper earlier than he obtained too shut and was pressured off with a dig within the ribs.
CB: Armel Bella-Kotchap – N/A – Forced off clutching his proper arm throughout the first ten minutes.
LB: Romain Perraud – 3/10 – The act of following Kulusevski infield is hardly prison however the lack of communication with Elyounoussi proved pricey.
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 via Spurs with a surgical through-ball to set Walcott away for the equaliser.
LM: Mohamed Elyounoussi – 3/10 – Didn’t shirk his defensive duties all recreation however did utterly ignore the brilliant turquoise shirt on their own in his workforce’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 – Somewhat overeager however obtained 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 innovative.
Kamaldeen Sulemana (70′ for Elyounoussi) – 5/10
Carlos Alcaraz (70′ for Armstrong) – 5/10
Manager
Ruben Selles – 5/10 – Southampton confirmed loads of vibrant patches whereas conceding some boneheaded objectives.
GK: Fraser Forster – 6/10 – Could hardly be blamed for conceding from point-blank vary however smothered Mara effectively within the closing phases.
CB: Cristian Romero – 6/10 – Front-footed as ever when Spurs did not have the ball.
CB: Eric Dier – 6/10 – Somewhat hesitant at instances 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 – Constantly 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 facet with a characteristically unforgiving and forceful show.
CM: Oliver Skipp – 6/10 – Circulated possession safely if not all the time spectacularly.
LWB: Ben Davies – N/A – The fourth participant to fall foul of an harm within the opening 37 minutes on a cursed afternoon at St Mary’s.
RW: Richarlison – N/A – Reduced to tears as he limped off the pitch after three minutes.
ST: Harry Kane – 5/10 – Dropped deep right into a crowd of crimson and white repeatedly.
LW: Son Heung-min – 6/10 – Spotted Porro in area and performed the superbly weighted go to seek out him however pale 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. Mixed.
Emerson Royal (86′ for Porro) – N/A
Pape Sarr (86′ for Kulusevski) – N/A – Delivered the precise reverse affect Conte was searching for.
Manager
Antonio Conte – 3/10 – Spurs sleepwalked via a lot of the competition, barely breaking out of their stupor in a match they had been fortuitous to attract.
Player of the match – James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
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