After leading 3-1 at relegation embattled Southampton, Tottenham unravelled and left Saint Mary’s with a bitterly disappointing 3-3 draw.
If you haven’t watched Tottenham often, it would have been hard to conceive of what transpired on the south coast.
Unfortunately, it’s a scene Spurs supporters have witnessed far too often. The 3-3 draw could have serious implications in Tottenham’s top-four hopes.
Here’s the player ratings from another baffling Tottenham outcome, which happened to come against the league’s worst home team.
Defence
Fraser Forster 8/10
Fraser Forster was untroubled in the first half but made a few crucial saves after the interval.
Massive saves on Sekou Mara and Ainsley Maitland-Miles were the showcase saves in another solid outing. Forster could do nothing about any of Southampton’s goals and deserved much better.
Clement Lenglet 4.5/10
Clement Lenglet had a goal-saving block in the opening minutes, ensuring Tottenham didn’t start on the back foot. He coughed up possession a couple of times but played decent otherwise. Lenglet had six tackle, three clearances, and a clearance.
Cristian Romero 4.5/10
Christian Romero had a few key interceptions in the first half but was left wanting on Che Adams’ back-post equalize.
Romero wasn’t tight enough due to the high line Spurs attempted. While he wasn’t solely culpable for any Southampton goal, he didn’t do enough elevate his rearguard’s overall performance.
Eric Dier 4/10
Eric Dier was at least partly at fault for Southampton’s first goal. Spurs’ backline played a high line and Southampton took full advantage. At times, Dier is way too stationary, especially when the ball is played beyond him and his defensive colleagues. Allowing three goals to a team that had only scored eight home goals previously is unacceptable.
Midfield
Ben Davies 7/10
Ben Davies played well before leaving prematurely with a muscle injury. Tottenham will feel the impact of Davies’ absence. He has enjoyed a solid season, especially at left wingback. The Welshman does a lot of thankless, unheralded, yet necessary work.
Oliver Skipp 5/10
Oliver Skipp endured a bit of a up-and-down match. He coughed up possession twice in dangerous areas but also made some timely and pivotal tackles.
Skipp had four tackles, one interception, one blocked shot, and one clearance.
Skipp was unable to stay with Sekou Mara, who spun and beat the Spurs midfielder with sheer change of pace. Skipp has Forster to thank for saving his blushes on that occasion. However, the Englishman wasn’t able to win the header on Southampton’s second, another blight on his day.
Pierre Hojbjerg 4/10
There’s very little to say about Pierre Hojbjerg’s performance, which against a team in the relegation dogfight isn’t particularly encouraging. He endured a shocking outing that was covered up slightly by Spurs victory.
Pedro Porro 8/10
Pedro Porro had three attempts in the first half, the third lashing into the top netting for Tottenham’s opening goal. It was Tottenham’s most recent signing’s first goal in a Tottenham shirt. While he lashed the first two over the bar, Porro was lively throughout and is supremely confident in possession.
Forwards and Subs
Harry Kane 8/10
The goal-scoring machine did it again on the south coast, bagging his ninth header of the season.
I shudder to think where Spurs would be without their talisman’s goal-scoring prowess. Kane missed another attempt from the top of the box, firing just over. While he didn’t play brilliantly otherwise, his goal is enough for a solid rating.
Dejan Kulusevski 8/10
Every Spurs supporter should be thankful for Dejan Kulusevski’s early introduction. While the circumstances responsible for Kulu’s introduction (Richarlison’s muscle injury) were unfortunate, the Swede took the game by the scruff.
He set Kane up with a pinpoint delivery for Tottenham’s second goal. Another Kulu cross led to Tottenham’s third. While his delivery was headed clear, Ivan Perisic pounced on the follow up. He also created havoc on a few occasions down the wing in the first half, creating most promising Tottenham first-half moves.
Son Heung-min 5/10
Sonny isn’t having things his way this season. He set up Porro’s first half goal but was otherwise disappointing.
Richarlison N/A
The Brazilian went off early with a muscle injury.
Ivan Perisic 6/10
Ivan Perisic didn’t play particularly well until unleashing with a brilliant strike to put Spurs up 3-1. His goal was outstanding. The rest of his play not so much. Perisic couldn’t help Skipp win a needed defensive header on Southampton’s second goal. The pair should have done much better.
Pape Sarr 2/10
Sorry Pape, but your only contribution was conceding a 90th minute penalty, which cost Spurs two crucial points.
The penalty was extremely unfair as he barely touched Maitland-Niles, condemning VAR once again. However, Sarr was out of control with a swinging leg and brought trouble on himself.
He’s a young, promising player who will recover and learn from a moment he’ll want to forget.