The expectation was always that Southampton would give Tottenham a good game in their FA Cup fourth round tie, but nobody really knew just how good they could be. Despite Spurs taking control of the game, the Saints were the ones who came out looking like the real stars of the show as they took this tie into a replay.
Pushing back
For the first half there was an awful lot of back and forth between the two Premier League titans, neither of whom could really get going in the way they intended. Tottenham still seem to be a little bit trigger shy and even that might be an understatement, whereas Southampton were trying to build off of the crowd’s noise.
It was one of those games that really did kick into life in the second half, with Giovani Lo Celso proving once again that he has all the potential in the world in English football. He set up Son Heung-min who put Tottenham into the lead, and from that point on, it was backs against the wall for Jose Mourinho’s men. In the final minutes of the game Sofiane Boufal managed to score a vital equaliser, taking this game into a replay.
Spurs boss Jose Mourinho had the following to say after the game as both focus their attention on top flight football once again.
“They put some pressure on us in the last minutes. The ball didn’t go out for about five minutes. They scored. But we are alive.
“Our fantastic fans that came here today, plus the other 50,000 that will go to the match at home, will be happy we have one more match.
Making an impact
“We are going on that difficult way! We are working. We don’t need one more match but we have it so we are going to fix it. This is the way it is. It’s better to draw than to be out. We have a match at home which is difficult of course, but better than losing.
“We had to wait for chances to score. Good transitions, good passing, good positions then we had Son Heung-min who missed by a few inches and the keeper made a good save.
“They have a style of play which is very direct and very aggressive. We improved bit by bit in the last few matches, we didn’t concede [in recent games]. We conceded in the minute of 80-something today but we are not scoring enough goals for the chances we create.”
Match Report
Southampton: Gunn (6.5), Bertrand (6), Bednarek (6), Stephens (6.5), Danso (6.5), Redmond (7.5), Hojbjerg (7.5), Ward-Prowse (7.5), Armstrong (6), Ings (6.5), Obafemi (7), Adams (6), Boufal (7.5), Djenepo (6)
Tottenham: Lloris (6.5), Aurier (7), Alderweireld (6.5), Sanchez (6.5), Tanganga (8), Fernandes (6.5), Winks (7), Alli (7), Lo Celso (7.5), Moura (6.5), Son (7.5), Dier (6), Lamela (6.5)
Referee: Peter Bankes
Goals: Boufal :: Son
Yellow Cards: Bednarek, Bertrand
Red Cards: N/A
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