Gutsy Southampton Hurt By Red Card

Spurs were not at their best and Southampton showed in team play that they were a match for this Tottenham squad.  It is only when all of Spurs players are playing at a super-hot intense level that teams do have problems beating them - but none of that fierce high press was on show today.  What was however was the timely return of clinical finishing, amounting to two goals at the end of the game that did not serve to change the result of the game.

Southampton must have thought that their excellent home form was going to continue when they took a quick lead after just 3 minutes of play.  They played with tempo and slick passing and initially began to dominate Tottenham, only for a goal out of the blue to halt their progress, as a deflected cross found it's way to Harry Kane, who accepted the gift of poor Southampton defending to notch his eighth Premier League goal and move into double digits with all goals.

Kane however was not at his sharpest best and when Spurs were awarded a penalty to seal the game, Kane's planted foot pulled up a divet of grass and as his kicking foot went through the ball, it sent the ball rocketing well over the goal - it should have been 1-3 but that penalty miss kept Southampton with a shout of leveling the game - and down to 10 men they played well.

Christian Eriksen rocked the crossbar with a ferocious shot shortly after the penalty miss, he has been in a good vein of scoring form and though there was lots of power in the shot, it may have helped him more to tap the ball towards the goal, because it did represent a great chance.

Southampton who are usually a very defensive minded team, saw their manager take a chance with a more offensive strategy as he simultaneously brought on three reserve players - but that only led to Tottenham having more space for counter-attacks, and in the last five minutes, twice Southampton paid the price for this attack minded risk.   The third goal from Delli Ali and the fourth goal form Heumin-Son were excellently placed strikes, the kind that represents the kind of clinical finishing many had cited that Spurs were lacking.

Even though a 4-1 win for Tottenham added to their so far depleted goal tally, it is the Spurs midfield who yet again had the bulk of scoring - and when Victor Janssen came on in the last few minutes,  there was little he could do to further effect the game.  He tried hard as usual but his face had a look of resignation, the same kind of bewildered expression that former Spurs striker Roberto Soldado did, when his scoring was all but non-existent.

The worry for Spurs on Sunday against Watford will not be the striker woes, but that both Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen received their fifth yellow card for the season, which means an automatic one match ban for both.  This however provides the opportunity for Eric Dier to play in a defensive role, otherwise he would have had to make way for Wanyama or Dembele in the centerback positions.  With Toby Alderweird out with an injury, Sunday may see a makeshift backline for Tottenham - which is an open invitation for the two lethal strikers of Watford.

The win for Spurs meant that this was the first time in a long-time that all Top 6 clubs in the Premier league won their games and that has not happened since May 2015.  The win also is the best start Tottenham have had in terms of points won in their Premier League history.  That bodes well for their desire to finish in the Top 4, but with Chelsea flying high at present and the other teams finding their winning ways - it represents a mighty challenge, one that now has Spurs supporters looking at the arrival of the January transfer window, to see if they can bring in that one world class player that may even transform them into title contenders.