Southampton 1-1 Tottenham: Player ratings as Spurs fail to beat 10-man Saints

From St. Mary's Stadium - Tottenham's recent progress was dealt a blow as they fell to a 1-1 draw against a determined Southampton side who were reduced to 10 men in the first half.

The hosts started much better than Spurs and went 1-0 up before Mohammed Salisu's sending off flipped the game on its head. Despite Tottenham's best efforts they could not grab a winner in the second half, with Saints holding on for a hard-fought point.

Saints had the first opportunity of the game inside five minutes. Kyle Walker-Peters swung in a delicious cross from the right after some intricate build-up play, but Shane Long could only flick his header beyond the post.

Long and Yan Valery would then spurn half-chances as Tottenham struggled to assert themselves on the game. 

In the 24th minute the hosts took a deserved lead when skipper James Ward-Prowse rifled an effort home from the edge of the box after the ball broke kindly to him.

This was the jolt Spurs needed to improve and just before the break things were turned on their head when Mohammed Salisu was sent off for a second bookable offence. He had hauled down Son Heung-min in the box and Harry Kane emphatically dispatched the resulting penalty.

Spurs attempted to make the most of their opponents being down to 10 men and had the ball in the back of the just after the restart, only for Kane's powerful finish to be ruled out for offside following a VAR review.

24 minutes from time the away side had the ball in the net again. However, once again the goal was not given, this time due to a foul on goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

Southampton forced a decent opening in the dying moments when Armando Broja darted through, but his effort was blocked. Late misses from Kane and Bryan Gil then ensured each side had to settle for a point.

Spurs continued to push their hosts with Son and Kane both


Southampton player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

A nightmare for Salisu | Dan Mullan/GettyImages

Fraser Forster (GK) - 6/10 - Looked shaky at first but grew in confidence to make a few good stops.

Yan Valery (CB) - 7/10 -
A mixed bag. Some assured defending punctuated by a few errors. Stood up well in the second half.

Jan Bednarek (CB) - 8/10 - His side's best defender. Read things well and did a fairly good job of containing Kane for the most part.

Mohammed Salisu (CB) - 2/10 -
Was defending pretty well...until the sending off. That rather spoiled his afternoon.

2. Wing-backs & midfielders

Ward-Prowse scored a fine goal | Dan Mullan/GettyImages

Kyle Walker-Peters (RWB) - 6/10 - A few moments of promise against his former club, but soon faded into insignificance offensively.

Ibrahima Diallo (CM) - 7/10 - Broke up play effectively. His pressing often created chances too.

James Ward-Prowse (CM) - 7/10 - Continues to prove himself as top class midfielder. Scored a fine goal and ran things for Saints.

Stuart Armstrong (CM) - 6/10 - A tidy display on his return to the start lineup.

Romain Perraud (LWB) - 7/10 - Defended superbly in the first half. He's a real authoritative tackler and is unfortunate not to have received more minutes this season.

3. Forwards

Long was one of six changes Ralph Hasenhuttl made | Dan Mullan/GettyImages

Shane Long (ST) - 5/10 - Missed a great chance early on. A willing runner but end product just isn't there.

Adam Armstrong (ST) - 4/10 - Barely in the game, even when Saints did have 11 men.

4. Substitutes

Armando Broja (ST) - 5/10 - Had an effort blocked at the end.

Nathan Redmond (ST) - 6/10 - Made one key defensive intervention.


Tottenham player ratings

5. Goalkeeper & wing-backs

Battling | Dan Mullan/GettyImages

Hugo Lloris (GK) - 5/10 - Rarely called into action and left with little chance of saving Ward-Prowse's fine effort.

Davinson Sanchez (CB) - 5/10 -
Never massively troubled. Distributed pretty well.

Eric Dier (CB) - 5/10 -
Not as polished as he has been in recent weeks. Misplaced a few passes and misread some balls over the top.

Ben Davies (CB) - 6/10 -
Another tidy display on the left side of Spurs' back three. Lost a fair few duels in the air, though.

6. Wing-back & midfielders

Winks started again for Spurs | GLYN KIRK/GettyImages

Emerson Royal (RWB) - 5/10 - Pushed high but rarely got a chance to swing in a cross.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (CM) - 5/10 - Not his best display against his former employers. Looked a bit groggy.

Harry Winks (CM) - 6/10 - A few lapses in concentration aside he went about his business efficiently. Set up Kane with a superb lobbed through ball - shame it was offside.

Sergio Reguilon (LWB) - 4/10 - Execution was poor in both directions. Seemed more concerned with winding up the opposition than doing his job. Hooked at half-time.

7. Forwards

Kane equalised from the spot | Dan Mullan/GettyImages

Dele Alli (RF) - 4/10 - Struggled to assert himself. Can have no complaints about being subbed.

Son Heung-min (LF) - 5/10 - Won the penalty with a trademark run in behind. Not a lot else fell his way.

Harry Kane (ST) - 6/10 - Plugged away for little reward early on before smashing home from 12 yards. His second finish was even more emphatic - until it was ruled out.

8. Substitutes

Matt Doherty (LWB) - 6/10 - A brave, direct display after coming on. If Conte can get tunes out of Davies and Winks, perhaps a Doherty resurgence is on the cards too.

Lucas Moura (RW) - 6/10 - Used the ball well after coming on and fired away an effort from range.

Bryan Gil (RWB) - 6/10 - Looked bright.


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Source : 90min