Southampton 2-5 Tottenham Hotspur: Four goals by Son Heung-Min dispatch hapless Saints defense

Son Heung-Min bagged four goals, all from Harry Kane, as Tottenham Hotspur dissected Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium, 5-2.

Jose Mourinho’s starting XI included Tanguy Ndombele for the first time in a Premier League match since December 2019, yet the Portuguese manager left Dele out of the squad and had Toby Alderweireld on the bench with rumors surrounding Dele’s status of particular note.

Spurs came flying out of the gate in the third minute of the match, breaking free as Son Heung-Min received a pass on the left flank and firing in a cross. A second pass into the box from Matt Doherty found Kane, who blasted a volley into the net. It looked to be 1-0, but VAR found Sonny was offside on the initial pass, wiping away the goal.

After a few chippy fouls, one of which could have been red on Oriol Romeu, Southampton had their first huge chance of the match. Che Adams had a shot from just a few yards out on a one-time effort that looked certain to be a goal if not for Hugo Lloris. The Spurs Captain made an incredible reactionary save to deny the goal, sending the ball out to touch.

Another disallowed goal came in the 16th minute, this time for Southampton. Hugo attempted a headed clearance outside of the box that was knocked down by Ings and shot into the net, but VAR showed a clear handball by the Saints striker. Southampton didn’t let it deter them as they found another great chance for Adams a few minutes later, which was blocked by Ben Davies. Moussa Djenepo found the woodwork in the 25th minute for Saints to give another scare to the visitors while Spurs had another goal disallowed right after due to Lucas being offside before his cross into Kane.

With three disallowed goals in the match, one of them had to count eventually, and Saints were the ones to get it. Ings split Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez on a ball over the top from Kyle Walker-Peters and coolly fired it for the far post, giving the home side a 1-0 lead.

The play after looked like the score would hold going into the break...until Tanguy Ndombele happened. An absolutely filthy piece of skill allowed Ndombele to feed the ball out onto the flank to Kane. One calm pass to Sonny later, and the Korean International took advantage of suspect goalkeeping to level the score.

SECOND HALF

Mourinho made one change at the half, swapping Tanguy Ndombele for Giovani Lo Celso, who made an immediate impact. Lo Celso found Kane posted up on the back line, allowing the the striker to feed a streaking Sonny to get in on net. Sonny’s shot was true, firing it into the corner to give Spurs the lead before the managers had their seats warm again.

Saints didn’t flinch much after going down, getting a couple of opportunities that they couldn’t turn into goals. Ings was called offside a couple of times on promising attacks for the home side. Defending wasn’t the best during these chances, but it was enough going into the final third of the match.

Mourinho made a change at the 60-minute mark, bringing Erik Lamela on for Lucas Moura to freshen up the attacking band. Adams almost leveled it again for Spurs right after the sub, going just wide of the net. On the ensuing attack, Kane chipped a gorgeous ball behind the defense to find Sonny yet again to slot a third goal into the net to complete his hat trick. And he wasn’t done yet.

After missing a chance where he was offside anyway, Lamela fed the ball to Kane, who did a fantastic job of staying onside. For the fourth time in the match, Kane fed the ball to Sonny who chested it down beautiful and tapped the ball into the net. Four Sonny goals. Four Kane assists. Pretty good day at the office for the attackers, and they still had goals in them.

In the 82nd minute, Spurs quashed another attack by Saints and broke on the counter. Sonny got free but had to pull up after being surrounded, yet found Lo Celso in the middle of the pitch. GLC fed Lamela on the left side and took a crack at goal. He came close, finding the far post but that was enough for Kane to get clean up the rebound, blasting it into the net to make it 5-1.

It wasn’t all roses in the second half, unfortunately. VAR decided to pull back play to a handball committed by Doherty. We could spend hours arguing about the handball rule, but the penalty was given and Ings buried it for a consolation goal.

THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH

• “Hi I’m first half Tottenham Hotspur and I have cable. And I’m second half Tottenham Hotspur and I’m the destroyer of worlds.” (Sorry, not sorry for an old meme.)
• While the first half was a rough watch, this team woke up and absolutely dismantled Southampton’s back six.
• I can watch Tanguy’s piece of skill at the end of the first half on repeat forever. Just pure filth.
• Sonny and Kane were just brilliant in the second half. It’s also the first time in Premier League history that one player has assisted the same player four times in a single match.
• If Spurs are really in for Ings, I’m all for it. He gave Spurs some major fits. Tip the hat to him because he was class for the Saints.
• GLC coming in for Ndombele probably gave everyone a bit of anger at first, but there was no drop-off and it gave both players some rest with two more matches to play in the next four days.
• Three points to cap off one of the wildest weeks at Tottenham Hotspur. Onto the League Cup Tuesday!