Kane pain as he’s left 99 not out
Kane’s 99th top-flight goal not enough
Here Tottenham made the case against those training breaks designed to refresh bodies and minds in warmer climes and offer an escape from the rigours of english football.
Spurs returned from their midweek jaunt to Barcelona with a virus running through the camp and a team unable to summon any fluent football as they missed the chance to move into the top four.
Harry Kane struck to cancel out an own-goal by Davinson Sanchez and move within one of a Premier League century but there was little else to comfort Mauricio Pochettino on a filthy day of sleet and rain in Southampton.
Spurs were wasteful in front of goal and sluggish in possession, not helped by a soft and slippery surface or the absence of Christian eriksen, their creator-in-chief.
eriksen and Hugo Lloris were unwell and other unnamed players were suffering last week but Pochettino refused the excuse.
‘They are OK,’ said the Tottenham boss. ‘ I’m not going to give names, it is not an excuse. We drew, and not because we were tired or with some problems.
‘Our performance wasn’t the best and we need to be focused on trying to improve. To be in the top four, we need to improve.’
Perhaps the display was best summed up by Dele Alli, who went clean through late in the game and missed the target by some distance even though the whistle had been blown for offside and everyone else had stopped playing.
rather than apply pressure to fourth-placed Liverpool, who are at Swansea tonight, Spurs handed Jurgen Klopp’s team the chance to open a five-point cushion.
If Spurs are to play in the Champions League for a third straight year they will have to do it the hard way: the next three league fixtures are against Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, before a european date with Juventus.
For Southampton, a winless run stretches to 11 league games and they remain in the bottom three but here at last was a glimmer of encouragement for Mauricio Pellegrino and some proof of improvement against a team who thrashed them 5-2 on Boxing Day.
The Saints were quickest to find any rhythm on a slippery surface and opened the Tottenham back four with their vision and forward thrust from midfield.
Michel Vorm, deputising for Lloris, was required to make his first save within 10 seconds of the kick-off, from Manolo Gabbiadini, and was left with no chance as Sanchez diverted into his own net.
ryan Bertrand raced down the left on to a pass from Dusan Tadic and created panic with a dangerous ball, fizzed along the turf.
Sanchez, sprinting back, slid at full stretch to intercept but was a fraction too late and could only divert it inside the near post.
Spurs, to their credit, produced a rapid response. eric Dier thumped a shot against a post from a corner before they equalised from another set-piece. Kane escaped marker Jack Stephens to climb above Gabbiadini and glance Ben Davies’s delivery past goalkeeper Alex McCarthy from close range.
It was his 99th goal in the top flight and will do little to quell the rumours of a £200million move to real Madrid. Spurs insist they will not sell their star at any price as they prepare for a new chapter at the new White Hart Lane stadium. ‘I’m not going to speak about rumours,’ said Pochettino.
Kane’s goal levelled the contest but did not bring composure to Spurs’ usually confident midfield as Mousa Dembele struggled with the first half’s hectic tempo. They showed more control in the second half as the pace of the game slowed, but it was a speedy debutant who nearly won it. Michael Obafemi, Southampton’s 17-year-old striker, showed flashes of raw pace but just failed to connect cleanly with Tadic’s low cross and his shot slithered wide. Kane missed the
final chance of the match, dragging his shot across goal and wide from an acute angle.
It was one of those days for Spurs. One of those days they may come to regret when the campaign ends.