The Saints had a man advantage against Spurs for much of the game but Ralph Hasenhuttl and co fell to defeat.
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has issued his verdict on the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton at the weekend, claiming it was “disgraceful” for the Saints to lose after Spurs went a man down (Sky Sports News).
After Southampton had fallen behind to Tanguy Ndombele’s 24th-minute deflected finish, Spurs defender Serge Aurier, who had already been booked, was sent off in the 32nd minute for a foul on Ryan Bertrand.
Danny Ings equalised as he made the most of Hugo Lloris’ error, losing possession inside his own six-yard area to the Saints forward, who bundled the ball over the line, but within five minutes, Harry Kane swept home what proved to be the winner for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Southampton had more chances to draw level once again but Lloris pulled off two great saves, jumping across his line to keep out James Ward-Prowse’s free kick before producing an acrobatic leap to block Maya Yoshida’s header following a corner.
“There’s a lot going on a Spurs at the moment but boy was that a good result, it just goes to show you how much football has changed over the years,” Merson wrote on Sky Sports. “When I was playing, if you went down to 10 men that was the end of your chances of getting a win, you may have hung on for a draw.
“But in the last two weeks we’ve seen two sides go down to 10 men, one when they were already losing and the other when the scores were level, and both went on to win the match. It’s phenomenal how fit modern-day players are but from a Southampton perspective, it’s disgraceful losing in those circumstances. Fair play to Tottenham, even at this early stage their season was on the line and they dug a result out.”
Up next for Southampton is a Premier League clash with Chelsea at St Mary’s Stadium on Sunday.
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