Spurs leave it late to keep alive Champions League hopes

Barnaby Read 19:26 23/03/2014
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Tottenham Hotspur came from two goals down to beat Southampton 3-2 and keep alive their hopes of Champions League football next season thanks to a 93rd minute winner from Gylfi Sigurdsson.

    Defensive errors earlier proved costly at White Hart Lane as both sets of defenders were found wanting early on but the game was ultimatelty sealed by Sigurdsson's sensational hit.

    Christian Eriksen had scored twice for the hosts before Sigurdsson's strike after Southampton had raced to a two-goal lead inside 30 minutes thanks to strikes from England duo Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana.

    Tim Sherwood and Mauricio Pochettino both made changes to their side's with Aaron Lennon, Nabil Bentaleb and Roberto Soldado coming in for the home team and Jack Cork and Rickie Lambert returning for the visitors.

    Southampton took the lead in the 19th minute thanks to England forward Rodriguez, who capitalised on an awful Kyle Naughton error to race through and place the ball past Hugo Lloris in the Tottenham goal.

    Naughton ran underneath Artur Boruc's long, hopeful clearance leaving Rodriguez the simple task of scoring his fifteenth goal of the season.

    Saints were typically vibrant in the first-half as the English front-three of Lallana, Lambert and Rodriguez saught to break Tottenham's defensive lines, which they did ruthlessly after 28 minutes.

    Another sloppy piece of defending diverted the ball into Lambert's feet, who controlled and turned expertly on the edge of the Spurs box before finding Lallana's overlapping run for the Saints skipper to cooly slot the ball beyond Lloris to make it 2-0.

    Spurs lacked invention and chased shadows for much of the first 45 minutes but hauled themselves back into the game just three minutes after going 2-0 down after Nathaniel Clyne's lapse error let Christian Eriksen in at the back post to half the deficit. 

    Just a minute into the second half Spurs were level with Jose Fonte this time the defensive culprit after being eased off of the ball by Roberto Soldado who squared the ball for Eriksen to tap-in from a yard-out.

    Spurs looked a different side after the break and, with their opponents rattled, they dominated much of possession and began to not only take a hold of the game but also pose a far more potent threat going forward with Soldado and Eriksen a constant threat to a shaky-looking Saints defence.

    And Sigurdsson's fabulous half-volley from the edge of the area sealed all three of the points for his side, leaving Spurs fifth in the table, just six points of neighbours Arsenal who have a game in hand. 

    Recommended