Southampton vs. Tottenham: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Despite twice leading against their ex-manager Mauricio Pochettino, Southampton were unable to see off the Argentinian's Tottenham Hotspur outfit in an entertaining 2-2 draw at St Mary's Stadium.
Goals from Erik Lamela and Nacer Chadli brought Tottenham level either side of half-time after two poorly defended Graziano Pelle efforts. The draw leaves the north Londoners in sixth and one point ahead of the south coast club.
Read on for the winners and losers from this Premier League clash for European places.
Winner: Graziano Pelle
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Bountiful early on in the campaign, then a drip over winter—goals had dried up for Southampton striker Pelle heading into spring.
One for Italy in their late-March friendly draw with England offered hope a fresh reserve had been hit. He followed up a goal in a win over Hull City with an impressive brace against Tottenham on Saturday.
Benefiting from iffy Spurs defending (more on that later), Pelle capitalised with the poaching instincts that made him one of the Premier League's most talked-about players earlier this season. His second, a powerful header, was particularly well taken.
While they trail Spurs for now, Southampton could earn a European place ahead of Tottenham if Pelle maintains this goalscoring form.
Loser: Tottenham's Lack of Focus
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Pelle's first goal summed up Tottenham's mixed day defensively.
Federico Fazio did well initially to stop Sadio Mane's threatening run inside. The danger momentarily looked averted when Ryan Mason then took the ball on.
Instead, opting not to clear his lines, he slipped and put Ben Davies under pressure with a pass back behind him into the penalty area. Rather than focus on getting to the ball, the left-back's decision to try and shield it allowed the stronger Pelle to outmuscle him and prod past Hugo Lloris.
Good in places, Spurs' collective way of undermining their better efforts never fails to astound.
Fazio was first to the ball on several occasions, and when he did not win it, he held his ground well. But 65 minutes in, he gave Pelle some space for Shane Long's cross, and the powerful Italian forward unsurprisingly capitalised.
Spurs' lack of focus was almost punished elsewhere with Steven Davis, Jose Fonte and Morgan Schneiderlin missing good scoring opportunities after going unmarked at various points. Nabil Bentaleb, Harry Kane and Lamela were among those culpable in half-hearted or non-existent attempts at tracking them.
Southampton forced the mistakes more often than not. Ryan Bertrand was particularly impressive down his left flank, while Shane Long's assist for Pelle's second was excellent. But the way Spurs continue to make things easier for opposition teams boggles the mind.
Nabil Hssan of BBC Sport quoted Pochettino as saying:
"We need to prepare for a big summer, build a strong team and fight for the top four.
Our dream for our supporters and this club is that they deserve to fight for the top four and be in the Champions League.
"
Winners: Nacer Chadli and Erik Lamela (h/t Eric Dier)
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Pochettino did not help Tottenham's defensive effort. Where Koeman was proactive in bringing Long on just prior to Saints' second, the Spurs boss left things as was in the hope his starting XI would produce something.
Lamela and Chadli did, but only after their hands were forced by Southampton taking the lead. Literally in the former's case. His equaliser came off his arm, via Harry Kane's header from an Eric Dier cross.
One of his team's more assertive first-half performers, the Argentinian's goal was a deserved reward for his relative efforts.
Not all he did came off—for instance, a 26th-minute break and piece of hold-up play that led to a through ball for Chadli, which just fell through—but his attempts to instigate something, predominantly coming in off the right wing, meant there was some measure of creativity from Spurs in an otherwise tentative first-half (including in the buildup to his goal).
There was also an excellent block tackle on Schneiderlin, which sadly was wasted by hesitant play from his team-mates further forward. Lamela has definitely been a breath of fresh air for Spurs following his return to the side.
Another of Spurs' brighter players in last week's win over Newcastle United, Chadli took longer to get going. When he did, he became arguably his side's biggest threat, causing right-back Nathaniel Clyne alarm with his inside-out dribbling several times.
It was a threat Southampton did not heed. Popping up on the right, Chadli ran onto Dier's superb through ball, held off a challenge and clinically placed the ball past Kelvin Davis.
Like with Pelle, Spurs will hope Chadli—whose second goal in two games means he now has 13 this season—has regained his scoring touch.
Loser: Sadio Mane
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The slippery St Mary's pitch ended up causing both teams problems. In addition to Mason's costly fall, Davies and Schneiderlin both suffered injuries from slips and were subbed out.
The tricky surface could not be blamed for some of the disappointing play-acting from both teams, however.
Davies' 49th-minute penalty claim was a pathetic attempt, one clearly generated when he realised his dribble into the box was running into trouble.
The afternoon's biggest culprit and repeat offender, however, was Southampton's Sadio Mane.
When focusing on playing, the attacker was a lively and effective forward option, his pace and tricky footwork causing Jan Vertonghen, Fazio and others several problems. It was his pass that teed up Long's cross for the home side's second.
Sadly, with increasing regularity throughout the second half, minimal or non-existent contact from Spurs players were turned into poorly acted portrayals of pain and injustice.
Referee Jonathan Moss did not fall for a couple of these attempts, but more often than not he was duped by the dishonest Senegalese.
Winner: Southampton Post-Pochettino
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As if we didn't know already, the 2014-15 campaign is turning out to be a good one for Southampton.
This result might ultimately suit Tottenham more given it has kept them ahead in the battle for European places. Despite the issues brought up in this article, Pochettino should be somewhat satisfied with a point off a side who have proved tough to beat this season (prior to Saturday, they had conceded the fewest number of goals in the Premier League).
Still, for Southampton to have proved so competitive with the team their manager left them for is something to be proud of.
After the game, Paul Doyle of The Observer wrote:
"One area where Southampton have improved hugely under Koeman is in defence.
Tottenham’s rearguard have not made similar progress under Pochettino and the Argentinian was visibly aghast at the bungling that allowed Southampton to take the lead in the 29th minute.
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Only a few years removed from promotion to the Premier League, Koeman has kept up the momentum, which could be set to establish them in the top flight for some years to come.
