Tottenham vs. Southampton: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Tottenham Hotspur returned to winning ways by securing a 1-0 victory over Southampton at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
Christian Eriksen's winning goal came just before half-time, Nacer Chadli hit the post in trying to make it two and Sadio Mane missed an absolute sitter late on.
Here, we nominated our winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Mauricio Pochettino, Who Won "Pochettino Bowl" Version 1.0
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Mauricio Pochettino, former manager of Southampton, would have been forgiven for feeling a sense of trepidation ahead of this tie. He wasn't facing the stands of St. Mary's—once his friends, now his foes—but taking on your old "project" will always stir up a few feelings to cloud the judgement.
On balance, he outfoxed his former chargers in multiple ways. The Saints were out-pressed, out-gunned and out-run in midfield—a tough feat to achieve.
Loser: Sadio Mane, Who Missed a Sitter and Play-Acted
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Sadio Mane is going to divide opinion.
He's quick, fast and wonderfully direct, but there's also a darker side to his game. He dives and play-acts, feigning injury to his face on Sunday after being pushed in the chest during a tussle.
He also missed a sitter to end all sitters, diverting a fizzing Ryan Bertrand cross wide when half of Hugo Lloris' goal was wide open. Horrendous.
Winner: Christian Eriksen, Who Won the Match and Pleased Pochettino
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Mauricio Pochettino spent much of his day at the Emirates Stadium last weekend remonstrating with Christian Eriksen, asking him to press higher and work harder.
Significantly less hassling and shouting went on today, as the Dane ran harder and led a ferocious Spurs pressing game. He went off with 10 minutes to spare but that's OK with "Poch," particularly since Eriksen scored the winning goal in the first half, firing in from the edge of the box.
Loser: Mick Jones, Who Had a Horrendous Day
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Mick Jones had an absolutely horrendous day on Sunday, botching several calls and showing wild inconsistencies.
Dusan Tadic could only grin wryly after picking up a yellow card for his first niggly foul on Danny Rose. Rose had been fouling him all afternoon and received nothing from the referee.
Sadio Mane appeared to be shoved over by Younes Kaboul as the last man too, yet Jones awarded a yellow card to the defender. It's either a foul and a red, or not a foul and nothing.
Ryan Bertrand went unpunished for a foul that forced Kyle Naughton to be substituted and leave pitchside assisted by two trainers.
Winner: Nacer Chadli, Who Continues to Excel
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Nacer Chadli is in fine form, and although he didn't grab a goal on Sunday, he did trouble Fraser Forster throughout.
He collected an assist for teeing up Christian Eriksen and had the nous to get between the centre-backs late in the first half, firing against the post with a slotted effort.
He tracked well, fought hard and passed cleanly.
Loser: Graziano Pelle, Who Was Relatively Anonymous
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A succession of fantastic performances came to a screeching halt on Sunday for Graziano Pelle.
The Italian had scored or assisted in each of his last four games coming into the fixture at White Hart Lane, and the stage was set for him to celebrate an international call-up by notching again.
Instead, he was borderline anonymous. One cross ball for Steven Davis in the first half aside, he struggled.
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