BALE KICKSTART FOR BOSS MASON
And late Son penalty revives Spurs’ top-four bid
Life after thee storm started with a much- needed victory for Tottenham. Life after the Super League e circus started with protests in n the High Road calling for chairman - Daniel Levy to go.
Life after Jose Mourinho started d with a spirited fightback to encourage interim boss Ryan Mason.
Life after the latest ankle injury y for Harry Kane started with a goal for Gareth Bale and a lastgasp winner by Son Heung-min from the penalty spot, assisted by the VAR.
A fresh start is badly needed at White Hart Lane and perhaps the storm will cleanse some of the angst from the system, although for the first 45 minutes Spurs seemed strangely becalmed.
Danny ings struck first and Southampton might easily have stretched out of sight before Tottenham stirred to claim three points and revive their hopes of reaching the top four as well as boosting confidence ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.
‘The most important thing is to create a positive energy around the place,’ said Mason, who at 29 became the youngest manager to take charge of a team in the Premier League. ‘When you’re winning matches it does that and from the second half we can take huge belief. The commitment and energy was brilliant. We had to compete as well. They were coming out on top in the first half but we fully deserved to win overall.’
Mason dedicated the success in memory of Ugo ehiogu, on the fourth anniversary of the former Spurs coach’s death.
in the second minute, only a brilliant double save by Hugo Lloris had prevented Spurs from going behind. Lloris parried a powerful header by Mohammed Salisu and somehow kept out the follow-up from Che Adams.
Again Lloris came to the rescue when Sergio Reguilon failed to cut out a pass and former Spurs youngster Kyle Walker-Peters was through on goal.
Southampton bristled with aggression and desire and no one more so than ings, who finally beat Lloris with a glancing header from a corner, in off an unattended back post. it was his 12th goal of the season but ings was forced off, early in the second half, with a calf injury and Saints were not quite the same without him. Tottenham had already offered a hint of improvement.
They moved the ball at a higher tempo, Pierre-emile Hojbjerg found his bite in midfield and Bale was increasingly influential.
He produced his team’s first effort on target, saved by Alex McCarthy, and levelled on the hour with a curling shot from a tight angle.
Mason said: ‘ Gareth’s had an exceptional career. When you don’t have Harry in the team you need someone on the pitch who can produce in the final third. The quality for the finish was outstanding.’
in return, the Wales international, on loan from Real Madrid, offered praise to the young boss.
‘Very good team talk at halftime,’ said Bale. ‘A few positional issues with the team. Just to be a bit more patient with the ball. We came out and did well. We want to attack. We’re a big club, we want to attack and we did that.
‘it was important to get the win tonight and it still gives us a chance of top four. it’s important not just for me but for the club, for the team, for the fans.
‘everyone talks about me a lot, doing this, doing that. it’s not about me. i don’t care about me. it’s about helping Tottenham. We’ll fight until the end.’
Son thought he had the second, sweeping in with his left foot from a Reguilon cross but his delight was curtailed when the VAR, Jon Moss, spotted Lucas Moura in an offside position, firmly in the eyeline of keeper McCarthy.
Moss intervened to rule in Tottenham’s favour, however, when he turned a free-kick just outside the penalty area into a spot-kick in the 90th minute.
Son converted and Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl fumed about the ‘ stupid foul’ by substitute Moussa Djenepo on Reguilon, as he saw another lead vanish into nothing.
‘The way we lost can’t hurt more,’ said Hasenhuttl. ‘in the first half we must be three up. in the second half, especially the last 30 minutes, the way we gave them a goal, wasn’t what we wanted.’
TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Lloris 7; Aurier 6, Alderweireld 6, Dier 6, Reguilon 6.5; HOJBJERG 7.5, Ndombele 5.5 (Winks 73min, 6); Bale 6.5 (Bergwijn 83), Lo Celso 6.5 (Lamela 79), Son 7; Moura 6.5. Subs not used: Hart, Sanchez, Sissoko, Alli, Tanganga, Vinicius. Scorers: Bale 60, Son 90 (pen). Booked: Ndombele, Lloris. Manager: Ryan Mason 6. SOUTHAMPTON (4-4-2): McCarthy 6; Walker-Peters 6.5, Bednarek 6, Vestergaard 6.5, Salisu 6; Walcott 6 (Djenepo 67, 5), Ward-Prowse 6.5, Armstong 7, Tella 6 (Redmond 84); Adams 6, Ings 7 (Diallo 58, 5). Subs not used: Forster, Stephens, Minamino, N’Lundulu, Ferry, Jankewitz. Scorer: Ings 30.
Booked: Djenepo. Manager: Ralph Hasenhuttl 6. Referee: David Coote 6.