Tottenham Drop Premier League Points Again in Southampton Defeat

Tottenham’s final home game of the season was marked by an uncharacteristically meek display as Southampton recovered from Heung Min-Son’s early goal to take all three points back to the South Coast. 

Mauricio Pochettino’s men have consistently outworked and outfought their opposition in an excellent season but they typical hallmarks of those performances were notable by their absence against Saints. 

Perhaps inspired by West Brom’s comparable performance at White Hart Lane two weeks ago, Southampton were conservative but countered intelligently and were far more efficient than their wasteful hosts. 

Possession is not an end in itself but a means to the end of scoring goals and winning games. 

Spurs proved that maxim by holding the ball for 70% of the match but scoring only one, rather fortunate, goal. 

xG map for Tottenham – Southampton. Poor transition defense opened Spurs up for this, but they should have won. pic.twitter.com/JPjCVg9vaV

— Michael Caley (@MC_of_A) May 8, 2016

Tottenham probably did enough to win this match but simply doing enough is not sufficient for their lofty ambitions. 

Spurs, with more to play for than the visitors, should have been able to put the result beyond doubt but to some degree, the lethargy of the performance can be excused.

Their young squad are undoubtedly feeling emotional and mental fatigue after their title challenge flamed out in the Battle of Stamford Bridge. 

Those players must recognise that the season is not yet over. The club’s highest finish since 1963 remains in …

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