Following on from the hugely disappointing defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, Southampton knew they could take plenty of positives from the game as we looked to host former manager Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur side.
Welcoming them to St Mary’s Stadium, albeit our former gaffer was banned from the dugout, Southampton were looking to move further away from the relegation zone and close the gap on Burnley and Brighton and Hove Albion above us.
Saints were lucky to only be 1-0 down at the halftime break given how the visitors dominating, but with improvements in the second period, we ended the game strongly, scoring twice inside of the final 15 minutes.
Yan Valery got us back on level terms before another fantastic James Ward-Prowse set piece gave us the unlikely victory and all three points on the day.
Speaking to the BBC following the fulltime whistle and the end of the game, manager Raplh Hasenhuttl said of the match.
“We were only 1-0 down but with the two changes at half time we had more speed and forced them into more mistakes. We had more pressure on the counter press and they got a little bit nervous. They tried to play football but it did not work like the first half. The two goals were fantastic. What a massive free-kick from James Ward-Prowse, the keeper had no chance. You know he is dangerous and has a big chance to score. We have a lot of players on loan and Josh Sims is back and did not have a chance to show me. He deserved to play and I am very happy he grabbed the chance with both hands. The opponents are always winning but this is only a step. It is a big win for us and we have a three weeks break, it is a completely different feeling over the line. We need more wins in the last eight games.”