Despite a red card for Southampton’s Mohammed Salisu in the 39th minute, the 10-man squad were able to hold on for a 1-1 draw against Tottenham. James Ward-Prowse struck first (25′) before Harry Kane was able to even the match at one goal apiece (41′ PEN).
Tottenham had plenty of possession and ample opportunity to capitalize against a 10-man unit. They just weren’t able to do so, with all the credit going to the home side at St. Mary’s.
“Disappointed especially after they went down to 10 men,” Tottenham’s Eric Dier said after the match. “We’ve got to win the game and we couldn’t do that. They defended very well and fought for each other but that doesn’t matter from our side of it. We have to be able to break them down. We weren’t good enough at doing that.”
Tottenham won the possession battle 65-35, and had 11 shots on target compared to just 2 for the hosts.
The draw still means Tottenham are unbeaten under Antonio Conte – a seven-match unbeaten streak. The point from the draw did help Southampton move up to 13th place in the standings, extending their unbeaten streak to three matches.
Kane has now been directly involved in 17 goals in 12 Premier League starts vs Southampton (6 assists and 11 goals).
Ward-Prowse has now scored in each of his last three appearances in the Premier League: Crystal Palace, West Ham, and now Tottenham. He has scored in three consecutive Premier League appearances for the first time since March 2019.
“I don’t get many that fall to me on the edge of the box like that,” Ward-Prowse said. “So, it was a great opportunity to have a shot and try my luck and thankfully it went in.”
Ward-Prowse added after the game they wanted to go out and play “hard.” He was phenomenal on Tuesday: 100% duels won, 100% shot accuracy, 51 touches, 9 final third entries, 5 ball recoveries, 5 duels won, 4 crosses, 2 tackles, 2 shots, 1 goal.
Southampton recorded their sixth home draw of the 2021-22 Premier League season; that equals the same number of draws at home in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 combined (6).
With the draw for Tottenham, and a 4-1 win for West Ham United at Watford, the Hotspurs dropped to sixth place in the standings, five points behind fourth-ranked Arsenal.
It is the holiday season, and that means no rest for the weary. Tottenham are back in action on New Year’s Day (Saturday, 1 January) against Watford. Southampton match up with newly rejuvenated Newcastle on Sunday, 2 January.
