Tottenham Hotspur blew a golden opportunity for three points today against Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium. Up 1-0 after a dominant first half, Spurs conceded second half goals to Yan Valery and James Ward-Prowse and fell to the relegation-threatened Saints 2-1. Harry Kane scored Spurs’ only goal, his 17th in the league and 200th of his career for club and country. Tottenham started with a moderately rotated side. The good news: Tottenham started with DESK! The bad news: The “S” wasn’t Son Heung-Min but Moussa Sissoko. Sonny was rested against the Saints, but Dele Alli made his first start since his hamstring injury a month and a half ago, along with Harry Kane, Lucas Moura, and Christian Eriksen. Eric Dier made his first Premier League start since his illnesses and Kyle Walker-Peters made a rare start on the right flank. Pochettino also opted to rest Toby Alderweireld, with Davinson Sanchez playing alongside Jan Vertonghen. Pochettino was in the stands, as he was serving the first of his two-match touchline ban for an altercation with Mike Dean after the Burnley match. First Half The first half was all Tottenham. Spurs’ first chance came in just the third minute — Dele Alli got his first action, heading a ball from midfield Spurs’ first for Harry Kane to run onto in the box, but Kane dragged his shot wide. Kane had another chance just seconds later, but he juggled the ball off his shoulder and volleyed over the bar. Lucas Moura was playing a little deeper than usual, more in the midfield and earned Romeu a yellow card after being tripped while dribbling up the middle. The midfield was excellent in the early stages, with Kane, Alli, Eriksen, and Sissoko all combining well to carve up Saints’ defense. Spurs’ best chance came in the 21st minute but it wasn’t their shot — a Southampton block ended up ricocheting off the post and Spurs weren’t able to turn the rebound into the net. Danny Rose earned a free kick at the edge of the box in the aftermath, but Eriksen’s ensuing free kick caromed off the crossbar and out. Spurs got their breakthrough in the 26th minute, thanks to some deft interplay between Dele and Kane. On a three on three breakaway, Dele chipped Saints’ defense and found Harry Kane in the box. Harry made easy work of it, putting Spurs up 1-0 and scoring his 200th goal of his career for club and country in the process. Dele wasn’t done, and he ripped a shot from the top of the box in the 30th minute that forced a good save from Southampton keeper Gunn, and Tottenham’s attackers continued to pick away at Saints’ back three, who were under an enormous amount of pressure the entire half. Eriksen had another look at goal just before halftime, a partially deflected effort that was punched down by Gunn. Spurs ran rampant throughout the first half. They rarely surrendered possession of the ball and didn’t allow Southampton to really do anything with it when they had the ball. Saints didn’t manage a single shot on target in the opening 45 minutes, and Spurs went in with a very comfortable 1-0 lead that could’ve been a lot more. Second Half Football is a harsh game sometimes, and mistakes can make teams pay. That’s exactly what happened to Spurs in the second half of this match. As good as Spurs were in the first half, they were equally poor in the second. Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl knew he had to change things up at halftime, and he made a double sub at the break, bringing on Shane Long and Josh Sims for Oriol Romeu and Charlie Austin. The change resulted in the Saints’ first shot on target just a minute into the half, though the chance was smothered by Hugo Lloris. Saints had another half chance on a cross to Long just after, but he mistimed his header and Spurs scrambled the ball away. Saints looked much brighter in the opening minutes of the second half, keeping Spurs on the back foot, forcing two saves from Lloris, and finally getting the St. Mary’s crowd involved. Kane had another nice look from an acute angle on a Spurs counter attack in the 52nd minute, but Gunn got a hand to the ball and Spurs earned a corner. Perhaps Southampton’s best chance of the game up to that point came on a busted play and a counter-attack in the 56th minute. Nathan Redmond found himself with the ball and a good angle on Lloris, but he thankfully only found side-netting. Five minute later Hojberg went close again, firing just over the bar as Southampton continued to look for the equalizer, and Redmond went close again, putting a close-range effort inexplicably wide of the post. Kane had his eighth shot of the match in the 69th minute, putting a curling effort high and wide, and on the ensuing possession Eriksen nearly found Lucas with a chip over the back line. Spurs finally made their first sub of the match, with Son Heung-Min coming on for Lucas Moura in the 71st minute. Shane Long was also subbed off with an injury for Saints. Southampton finally, and deservedly, got the equalizing goal in the 77th minute courtesy of Yan Valery, who got open at the back post to fire home a cross that skated across the face of goal. And Saints made it two four minutes later after Kyle Walker-Peters clipped the back heel of Stuart Armstrong. It could easily have been a sending off for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity, but Kevin Friend only gave a yellow card and it was a free kick at the edge of the box. Ward-Prowse fired home the free kick past Hugo to give Saints the lead. Just after the goal, Spurs made two subs, with Dele and Rose making way for Ben Davies and Fernando Llorente. It nearly got worse for Spurs after a scuffle ensued between Redmond and Sissoko — there was a “coming together” of heads in the scrum and both men received yellow cards.<doc-sep>Sign up to FREE email alerts from Football London - Spurs Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Mauricio Pochettino heads back to Southampton this afternoon with Tottenham, but he won't be in the dugout. The Tottenham boss will be in the directors' box instead on his return to St Mary's as he serves a touchline ban following his confrontation with referee Mike Dean after the recent 2-1 defeat at Burnley. But with his assistant Jesus Perez set to take responsibility from the dugout alongside first team coach Miguel D'Agostino, will it have an impact on Spurs' performance? Not according to the pundits, with Mark Lawrenson, Paul Merson and Robbie Savage all predicting wins for Tottenham. Both Savage and Lawrenson are predicting 2-1 wins for Pochettino's side, while Merson is predicting a 3-1 success for Spurs on the south coast. In his weekly predictions feature for the Sky Sports website, the former Arsenal man said: "Tottenham had a great result in midweek in the Champions League and I thought they were fortunate against Arsenal. "Southampton are a funny team - they go to Old Trafford and should have got a point and did well." Meanwhile, Lawrenson says he doesn't feel Pochettino's absence from the dugout will be a problem for Spurs. "Tottenham will have to do without manager Mauricio Pochettino on the touchline because he starts his ban, but I don't think it will matter too much against his old club," the former Liverpool defender said in his weekly predictions feature for the BBC website. "Spurs got a great result against Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday, especially after they had dropped a few points in the Premier League in recent weeks. "Southampton played well at Old Trafford last weekend, but it ended in a glorious defeat at the hands of Manchester United. "They have only won one of their past six games - with that victory coming against Fulham - and I can't see them ending that run [against Spurs]." Keep up to date with the latest Tottenham Hotspur news, features and exclusives from football.london via our free WhatsApp service . Text NEWS to 07776197989 and then add the number to your phone contacts book as spurs dot london (case sensitive, with spaces) to receive daily updates and breaking news from Alasdair Gold and the team on Spurs. Your phone number won't be shared with any other members of the group. Click here for more information on the service.<doc-sep>Hello and welcome to St. Mary's, where Southampton host Spurs in the Premier League this afternoon. Southampton are hovering just two points above the relegation zone, with just one win in their last six league games. That solitary victory came against fellow strugglers Fulham, while Cardiff beat them 2-1 last month in what could be a crucial result come the end of the season. Spurs, meanwhile, come into this game in poor form in the league with two losses and a draw in their last three games, but will be buoyed by their midweek progression to the Champions League quarter-finals and the news that broke yesterday about their new stadium's opening date. Southampton vs Spurs - Premier League Venue: St. Mary's Date: Saturday March 09 Kick-off time: 3.00pm (GMT) Previous meeting: Spurs 3-1 Southampton, Premier League, December 05 2018. Spurs team news Southampton team news Southampton will be without top scorer Danny Ings, who they have decided not to risk as he completes a comeback from a hamstring injury. Mario Lemina could return from an abdominal injury. What TV channel is Southampton vs Spurs on? Southampton vs Spurs will not be broadcast live on TV but you can join football.london for full coverage of the game from St. Mary's, including live blog commentary. Live stream information Southampton vs Spurs will not be available to watch by live stream, but full coverage of the game will be available on football.london from St. Mary's, including team news, live blog commentary and player ratings. Keep up to date with the latest Tottenham Hotspur news, features and exclusives from football.london via our free WhatsApp service . Text NEWS to 07776197989 and then add the number to your phone contacts book as spurs dot london (case sensitive, with spaces) to receive daily updates and breaking news from Alasdair Gold and the team on Spurs. Your phone number won't be shared with any other members of the group. Click here for more information on the service.<doc-sep>SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - MARCH 09: Yan Valery of Southampton celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary's Stadium on March 09, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) Southampton claimed a vital 2-1 over Spurs in the Premier League this afternoon after an amazing turnaround at St Mary’s. The visitors had held the lead at half-time through Harry Kane’s opener and fully deserved their advantage following dominant first 45 minutes. However, the Saints came roaring back with two goals from Yan Valery and James Ward-Prowse in a much improved second-half display. The opening 15 minutes of the game saw Saints having to soak up a lot of Spurs pressure and Harry Kane was caught just offside before having his shot blocked by Angus Gunn. Their defence was looking less than convincing and some slack play nearly led to an opening goal for the visitors. Possession was surrendered to Kane and he fired a cross into the area that was diverted onto his own post by Maya Yoshida, but the Japanese international eventually cleared. Christian Eriksen then hit the bar with a free kick but it wasn’t long before Saints fell behind. Their back three was left exposed as Spurs countered. Dele Alli received the ball just outside the area and lofted a perfect pass towards Kane at the back post, where the England captain rolled in for a deserved lead. Saints could only muster two half chances for Redmond and Austin in the first period and it was clear that Ralph Hasenhuttl needed to make some tactical adjustments at half-time to help his players get into the game. Both Shane Long and Josh Sims were thrown into the action to provide some pace and movement upfront, and this seemed to have an immediate impact when both were involved in a move that almost saw Nathan Redmond grab and equaliser Long’s pass found Redmond inside the area and he jinked past Davinson Sanchez before firing into the side-netting from a great position. The same combination then produced another chance that Redmond will have felt he should have done better with. Long squared the ball across the six-yard line to the winger who had darted across the near post, but he flicked his effort wide instead of inside the near post. Harry Kane missed a good opportunity when he curled a left-footed shot wide but Saints got their deserved equaliser in the 76th minute. Substitute Stuart Armstrong played the ball across the area and Yan Valery was at the far post to take advantage and bundle home his second goal in two games. However, there was even more to come. With an international break upcoming, James Ward-Prowse is in the form of his life and he took his claims for a place in Gareth Southgate’s a step further with another superb free-kick goal. The ball was put down centrally just outside the area and he executed a strike perfectly into the top corner to match his effort against Manchester United last weekend. After the true game of two halves, Saints held on for a crucial win that saw them stay out of the relegation zone going into the international break.<doc-sep>
Tottenham will be looking to back up their superb win in the Champions League with victory in the Premier League this afternoon. Spurs were sensational at Signal Iduna Park as they claimed a 1-0 win over Borussia Dortmund and a 4-0 victory on aggregate. It means the Tottenham fans can look forward to the quarter-final draw next Friday afternoon. However, they have the small matter of Premier League action to get back into first. Mauricio Pochettino's side have travelled down to the south coast to take on the Argentinian's former club Southampton today. And without a win in three in the top flight, they could do with three points to open up a gap between themselves and the chasing pack for the top four, with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United not in action until Sunday. Pochettino will of course not be present on the touchline, beginning the first of a two-match touchline ban for his rant on the pitch at referee Mike Dean in the wake of the defeat to Burnley last month. But the former Saints man has of course, picked the team, and he has made a number of changes, with Lucas Moura, Kyle Walker-Peters, Eric Dier and, most notably, Dele Alli coming into the side. Alli has been missing since picking up a hamstring strain in the dramatic win over Fulham at the end of January. And the Spurs fans are delighted to see the England man back in the starting lineup. Keep up to date with the latest Tottenham Hotspur news, features and exclusives from football.london via our free WhatsApp service . Text NEWS to 07776197989 and then add the number to your phone contacts book as spurs dot london (case sensitive, with spaces) to receive daily updates and breaking news from Alasdair Gold and the team on Spurs. Your phone number won't be shared with any other members of the group. Click here for more information on the service.