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Tottenham 3-2 Southampton: Eriksen Sparkles In Spurs Comeback Win

By on March 23, 2014

Christian Eriksen produced a man of the match performance as Tim Sherwood’s Tottentham Hotspur came from two goals down to record an important victory over Southampton. Goals from Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana put the Saints ahead within half an hour but Eriksen was at the double to level things up just after half time, before the young Dane teed up substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson to smash in a stunning stoppage time winner. The result leaves Spurs six points behind neighbours Arsenal having played a game more, with Southampton now nine points shy of the European places.

Moussa Dembele, Younes Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen all returned for the hosts, for whom Algerian youngster Nabil Bentaleb made his fifteenth appearance. With Emmanuel Adebayor unavailable, Roberto Soldado started up front for a side who had up until today scored fewer home goals than bottom club Fulham. Southampton had themselves only conceded 16 goals in 15 away games before this match so goals were far from guaranteed. With England boss Roy Hodgson in the stands (as well as Sherwood), the Saints’ England front three of Rodriguez, Lambert and Lallana all started, but Morgan Schneiderlin was out with a muscle problem.

The game started brightly with both sides possibly a little too eager to get forward; as a sign of things to come, Spurs’ early attacking play was mostly centred through Eriksen but too often he was isolated with little support. Southampton nearly found themselves in behind Spurs’ high line on numerous occasions in the opening few minutes as they made their game plan evident. Balls from midfield and defense were regularly floated over the top for Lallana or Rodriguez to chase and although they were caught offside more often than not, sweeper-keeper Hugo Lloris’ outfield attributes would be called on on more than one occasion.

The first big chance of the game came with six minutes played as Lallana played a great ball over three defenders, only for Lambert’s chest control to let him down. With the momentum of the move dissipating, he held the ball up strongly before returning it to Lallana, who curled his first-time shot wastefully over the bar. At the other end, Soldado was looking noticeably more confident than in recent weeks, taking players on and beating them well, yet only a few moments later Southampton had the ball in the back of the net. Rodriguez was correctly flagged for offside, but it was a warning for Spurs’ nervous defense.

Southampton clearly had the best of the opening exchanges but it was Spurs who came close next. Nathaniel Clyne was bamboozled by a clever backheel from Soldado to find Nacer Chadli down the left, but the Belgian was unable to find Soldado or the open Aaron Lennon with his cutback. It was a costly mistake as four minutes later, Rodriguez had scored again – and this time, there was no offside to save Spurs. A hopeful long ball from keeper Artur Boruc was inexplicably missed in the air by Kyle Naughton, allowing Rodriguez to slip in behind him and calmly slide the ball across Lloris into the bottom right corner. His thirteenth league goal of the season and his third in three games, Rodriguez is the second highest-scoring Englishman in the league behind the prolific Daniel Sturridge – his plane ticket to Brazil may already be booked.

While Spurs were piling men down the wings but remaining unable to make their crosses stick, Southampton were controlling possession and the tempo of the game as well as taking the sting out of Spurs’ expensive forward line. Within ten minutes, they had their reward after another mistake from right-back Naughton. The 25 year-old completely scuffed his clearance allowing Lambert to steal the ball. Holding it up unchallenged inside the ‘D’, he was allowed the time and space to play in Lallana, who finished in an equally composed fashion under Lloris into the opposite corner to Rodriguez. It was his first goal in eight league games.

Spurs responded well though, and Bentaleb took a shot from distance which bounced wide, but was close enough to the post to have Boruc scrambling nervously over to cover. Within three minutes of Southampton scoring, Spurs had halved the deficit, with due to no small amount of good fortune. While Dejan Lovren was protesting a pull back from Chadli, the man who scored twice against Benfica in midweek had laid off Naughton to deliver a dangerous ball in to the box. It was just over the head of Soldado but crept under Clyne and fell perfectly for Eriksen, who gleefully smashed the ball under the goalkeeper to bring Spurs back into it. Both teams had further chances to score with Soldado and Jack Cork each pulling off outstanding cushioned passes, but Eriksen and Lallana were unable to capitalize and the score remained 2-1 at the break.

Despite Southampton having kickoff, Spurs were level within a minute of the interval. Soldado kept running and harrying when clearly second favorite to a ball up by the corner flag, and as Lovren needlessly dropped to the floor he found himself in behind the defence. He took his time with the ball and delivered a perfect pass across goal for Eriksen to tap in the equaliser – he may not have scored, but this was one of Soldado’s best performances to date in a Tottenham shirt. He showed himself to be a capable target man early in the second half, holding up the ball while others arrived on numerous occasions as Spurs turned the game on its head, dominating possession and chances. Chadli had a powerful effort saved after another Tottenham counter attack and Eriksen ruffled the side netting, before a last ditch challenge was needed to stop the 22 year-old completing his hat-trick after an outrageous ball forward from Kaboul. Teenager Calum Chambers took the plaudits for some solid clearing up at the back.

Gaston Ramirez and Andros Townsend replaced Rodriguez and Lennon respectively as the half wound down, and although neither were particularly involved in proceedings, they both looked sprightly when they had the ball. Townsend worked hard against the ever-impressive Luke Shaw to win a corner and an audacious flick from Ramirez almost saw Lambert head in a late winner. Time continued to tick by but the match became no less fast or furious, with Lambert hitting another shot just wide as Spurs looked nervous, giving the ball away on numerous occasions. A point would have been a fair result after two incredibly contrasting halves of football, but Spurs had the lift they so desperately needed in the second minute of stoppage time. With Southampton camped in and around their own penalty area, Eriksen teed up substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson to smash in a superlative first-time shot hard, straight and low into the bottom corner past the helpless Boruc. It was a goal worthy of winning any game, and to be truthful Spurs could have had a fourth moments later as Chadli broke forward, yet his pass to Soldado was weak and easily picked off. Spurs held on and cranked up the pressure on a creaking Arsenal; with a relatively comfortable run-in to the end of the season, a Champions League place is still not impossible.

About Sam France

17-year-old aspiring sports journalist and Middlesbrough fan. Check out my personal football blog at sjfootball97.blogspot.com! *warning* Some posts may include mild sarcasm.