Tottenham battered a sorry Southampton side 5-0 at St Mary’s to hand boss Ange Postecoglou a much needed victory.
Spurs found themselves four ahead after 25 minutes and five up by the break, as a double from James Maddison and goals from Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevksi and Pape Sarr added to bottom side Southampton’s woes.
Here’s five talking points from the game…
St Mary’s turns toxic as Southampton fans turn against Martin
Russell Martin has seemingly lost the support of a big number of Southampton fans. With his side bottom of the league and on the end of another humiliating defeat, plenty of fans decided they had seen enough and chanted “we want Martin out” as the number of goals against them stacked up. It is difficult to see a way back for the Saints boss after this. His side were all over the place defensively and let their heads drop, showing a lack of fight and intensity against this ruthless Tottenham team.
Tottenham still deserve credit despite Southampton’s struggles
This defeat had as much to do about how bad Southampton are as Tottenham’s performance but Postecoglou and his side must still get the credit for a much needed win. They went into this game on the back of a bad run having not won in their last five in all competitions but did not play like a team low on confidence, driving forward right from the first whistle and scoring after just a minute of play. This was a reminder of what Spurs can do to teams.
Injury situation not getting any better for Spurs
It might have been a hugely positive evening for Tottenham but the only real negative was seeing Destiny Udogie subbed off in the first half after going down with an injury. Spurs were missing Cristian Romero, Micky Van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario, Mikey Moore, Ben Davies, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison through injury, as well as Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma through suspension. Their injury crisis did not bother them against Southampton but with games against Manchester United, Liverpool and in form Nottingham Forest coming up, missing so many key players is bound to have an impact and Postecoglou will be desperately hoping Udogie is not an addition to that list.
Djed Spence shows he can contribute
It is remarkable to think that this was Djed Spence’s first ever Premier League start having been at Tottenham for more than two years now. The full-back was preferred to Pedro Porro in the starting line-up having so far been a peripheral figure under Postecoglou and did well, setting up Tottenham’s very early opener with a brilliant driving run forward and coped well when he was shifted out to left-back following Udogie’s injury. With Spurs missing so many players, Spence showed he has what it takes to play a part.
Spurs look a better team with Maddison in it
James Maddison was terrific against Southampton, scoring twice and looking a whole class above his opponents. He scored a well taken opener and added a second on the stroke of half-time with another brilliant finish. He absolutely ran the show, popping up all over the pitch and making things happen for his side. It is a tad strange that he has been in and out of the team of late but this showed exactly what he is capable of, albeit against a poor opponent.
