Tottenham Hotspur became the final side to book their place in the FA Cup Fifth Round as they came from behind to beat Southampton 3-2 in a replay on Wednesday evening.
Jose Mourinho’s troops, who were unconvincing for a lot of the game, edged ahead early on as Jack Stephens put through his own net as Tanguy N’Dombele’s shot deflected off of him. Shane Long got the visitors back on level terms in the 34th minute as he scored following a poor parry from Hugo Lloris. Saints turned the game around in the second period as Nathan Redmond ran half of the pitch before playing in Danny Ings who finished expertly into the far corner.
Their hopes of progression were given a blow with not long remaining as Lucas Moura scored with a brilliant strike. The North-Londoners then reclaimed the lead as Son won and scored a penalty in the 87th minute of the match to book Spurs place in Round Five.
Stephens unfortunate
Southampton begun the better of the two sides in North London, getting to grips with the game much quicker. It was actually Tottenham who claimed the lead though as N’Dombele’s shot was deflected home by the unfortunate Stephens, who was just recovering after putting in a great tackle to deny Ryan Sessegnon.
The Saints continued to play the more convincing football after falling behind and Ings almost went close to equalising as he latched onto a great pass from James Ward-Prowse but thundered his close range shot off of the crossbar.
Saints hit deserved equaliser
They were not to be denied though as another flowing move saw Redmond spin and fire towards the bottom corner. Lloris could only parry straight into the path of Long who stayed cool to fire the ball home.
The turnaround should have been completed minutes after the break as the Spurs’ defence completely disintegrated once again, leaving Sofiane Boufal with a great chance at the back post. He fired his low shot wide though.
Just like in the first-half, Spurs then had a chance to go ahead against the run of play as Lucas Moura nodded Son’s cross wide.
Ings on the scoresheet again
Opportunities came for both sides as the second-half wore on. Substitute Jannik Vestergaard forced a good stop out of Lloris with a powerful header from a corner before Ings finally put the Saints in control. Breaking from a Tottenham attack, Redmond did excellently to skip away from a clutch of Tottenham players before playing a wonderful ball to the striker. Ings took a touch to bring the ball inside, then finished coolly into the far corner with a curled effort.
Spurs were not behind for long though as their first bit of quality throughout the entire match saw them equalise. Dele Alli and Moura played a quick one-two, before the latter skipped inside and fired into the bottom corner of Angus Gunn’s goal from the edge of the area.
Son books Spurs’ place
It took until the 88th minute of the match for the hosts to make sure that they were in the Fifth Round. Alli whipped a wonderful ball into Son and just as it looked as though he was going to roll it home, he was taken down by Gunn, resulting in a penalty. He was indeed the man to step up and he coolly converted by stroking home past the Southampton goalkeeper.
Final Thoughts
Ralph Hassenhuttl will be absolutely furious that his side let this game get away from them. For large swaths of the match, the Saints were by far the better side. Their attack was extremely hard-working, whilst remaining defensively-astute and assured – that was until Tottenham’s equaliser. It would be an exaggeration to say that Spurs deserved it but that will mean absolutely nothing to the North-Londoners as they progress to the last-16 where they will play Norwich City.
Match Report
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris (6); Tanganga (7), Vertonghen (5) (Fernandes (6), 54′), Alderweireld (6), Aurier (6); Winks (6), Dier (), N’Dombele (6) (Alli (7), 60′); Sessegnon (6) (Sanchez (N/A), 90′), Son (7), Moura (7).
Southampton: Gunn (5); Bertrand (6), Bednarek (7), Stephens (6), Ward-Prowse (6) (Vestergaard (6), 40′); Redmond (7), Romeu (6), Hojbjerg (6), Boufal (7) (Armstrong (5), 67′); Long (7) (Adams (N/A), 81′), Ings (7).
Goals: Stephens OG (12′), Long (34′), Ings (72′), Moura (78′), Son PEN (87′)
Referee: David Coote
Yellow Cards: Bednarek (55′), Fernandes (59′), Romeu (84′), Adams (85′), Gunn (86′)
Red Cards: N/A
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
