Spurs and Southampton fans had to wait longer than all 18 other sets of rival Premier League supporters to see their sides in action following Christmas Day.While the majority gorged on Boxing Day action before Liverpool and Spurs offered up another Bank Holiday treat, the Londoners and the south coast outfit played out their match last night, which is sure to have brightened up the day for any Tottenham followers unlucky enough to have had to go back to work after the festivities.
As we know now, the match ended 1-4 in favor of the Lilywhites, who came back from an early Virgil van Dijk header to win via goals from Deli Alli (x2), Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.
Although the result didn’t change the order of the table, Spurs will be happy to be three points ahead of Manchester United in fifth, while only one point separates them from bitter rivals Arsenal. Oh, and for any being optimistic, the gap between the north London club and leaders Chelsea is now just ten, as opposed to 13.
So, who wants to relive the big game? Well, we have SEVEN amazing pictures that will allow you to do just that!
Van’s the man
Just two minutes after the first whistle, Van Dijk put another few £million on any potential January offers coming in for him. The Dutch defender has been lauded for his work in his own third this season, and rightfully so, but he’s also a threat at the other end – as he showed when he nodded James Ward-Prowse’s deadly free kick into the net.
Alli-woop
The Saints piled on some early pressure, but Spurs started to grow into the game after the first quarter of an hour and got back on level terms via a Dele Alli header. The midfielder hasn’t been quite at the same swashbuckling level asÂlast term but he showed his determination as he out-jumped Van Dijk to head past Fraser Forster.
Late present from Kane
The game made it to the halfway stage with the scores level and both sets of fans were hoping for a late Christmas present in the form of three points. Harry Kane set his team on the way to just that when he netted the THIRD headed goal of the game via a Christian Eriksen corner.
Red-mond for Nathan…
Controversy struck in the 57th minute as Nathan Redmond was sent off for a foul on Alli. The attacking midfielder was adjudged to have pulled his opponent back in the area and referee Mike Dean elected to both dish out the red card and point to the spot. It’s fair to say the Saints players, and fans, didn’t take too kindly to the decision, and they had some right to be aggrieved. The new rules mean that had he attempted a tackle and fouled Alli, it would have been only a caution.
Kane not able…
With the atmosphere bubbling after Redmond’s dismissal, it looked as if things would get worse when Kane stepped up to take the spot-kick, but the English forward blazed wildly over the bar after appearing to lose his footing on the turf.
After the match, he poked fun at himself and touted his services to NFL teams looking for a kicker…
Nice one, Son…
With the Saints a man down, space started to open up for the visitors and Son took advantage of that in the 85th minute. Without a goal since the start of December, the South Korean has been on a mini-drought, but he didn’t show any signs of rust when he fired low past Forster.
All-I I want for Christmas…
With Southampton visibly tiring, just a couple of minutes later Alli added real gloss to the scoreline with a neat effort to make it 1-4. As the picture (above) shows, the Lilywhites’ players were thrilled with what they must have known was a big win, given how solid Southampton have been this season.