Shambolic Spurs let it slip to leave Conte feeling sick
LET US talk about James WardProwse’s right foot for a moment: a true thing of beauty. Poetry in motion. Tottenham were heading for a victory to boost their Champions League hopes before two late, wonderful swings of the Southampton captain’s magic wand changed everything.
Saints were on their knees when Son Heung-min fired home in the 70th minute.
But then Ward-Prowse intervened, conjuring two crosses of outrageous quality for Mohamed Elyounoussi and Che Adams to head home as Southampton claimed an unforgettable victory on a chaotic night.
Tottenham can have no complaints — Southampton could have been out of sight by half-time. But having led twice, Conte will feel sick after this loss, which cost his side the chance to move within a point of the top four.
‘They were good but I think we made many mistakes,’ explained the Spurs boss.
‘If we want to be competitive, we can’t be up and down like this. We need stability. We are still too emotional. We needed to manage the situation in a better way, we need to take the experience from this.’
In contrast, Ralph Hasenhuttl will enjoy his Thursday morning coffee more than usual. His team were outstanding here. Tottenham simply couldn’t cope with them.
Spurs did show some attacking menace early on. Cristian Romero had a headed goal disallowed before Sergio Reguilon squandered a gilt-edged opportunity set up for him by Harry Kane. As poor as they were, Conte’s side found themselves ahead in the 18th minute, as Jan Bednarek turned Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s cutback into his own net.
That should have been the signal for Spurs to stroll home — but instead they lost control.
Lloris stopped Ward-Prowse’s effort that was arrowing into the bottom corner before Southampton dragged themselves level.
Armando Broja took the credit, firing home Romain Perraud’s 23rd-minute pass. But the comedy of errors that led to the equaliser will have had Conte’s blood boiling. Ben Davies slipped, Davinson Sanchez’s header was tame and Emerson Royal dallied.
As the game progressed, Spurs’ defensive mistakes compounded. Lloris was forced into another save in the 29th minute, preventing Stuart Armstrong’s header before
Broja fired wide with only the keeper to beat. Mohammed Salisu thought he was nodding into an empty net after Lloris had made a rare mistake, but his header bounced off the unaware Romero to save Spurs once again.
And then, two minutes before the break, Perraud crashed a 30-yard effort off Tottenham’s cross bar to leave Hasenhuttl’s head in his hands.
It was hardly surprising when Tottenham were booed off at half-time.
They showed signs of improvement after the break but it wasn’t enough to pacify Conte, who sent on recent signing Rodrigo Bentancur in place of Hojbjerg in the 60th minute to give the former Juventus midfielder a Premier League debut. And all of a sudden Tottenham’s tempo was soaring.
How Hasenhuttl must have been cursing his team’s tardiness in front of goal. He definitely would have been in the 70th minute when Tottenham regained the lead as Son popped up to fire in Moura’s low cross.
Yet the real action was unfolding near the benches as Hasenhuttl and his staff went berserk over Royal’s robust aerial challenge into the back of Broja, who required lengthy treatment. Royal went unpunished.
Conte, combustible at the best of times, saw red. The irate Italian had to be ushered away from an escalating situation that was threatening to turn nasty.
But that wasn’t the end of the drama, as Southampton completed a stirring comeback.
Elyounoussi’s equalising header beyond Lloris was excellent, but Ward-Prowse’s 79th-minute delivery was majestic.
Adams’ match-winning header two minutes later was just as good, but Ward-Prowse’s cross trumped it.
To top off all the drama, Steven Bergwijn had a stoppage-time equaliser for Spurs ruled out for offside by VAR.
‘This is why we love the game,’ said Hasenhuttl. He loves WardProwse’s right foot, too.