Ralph Hasenhuttl ‘will never forget’ Saints’ win over Spurs in his 500th game

Posted Thursday, February 10, 2022 by PA

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said his side’s dramatic win at Tottenham was one of the best performances of his spell at the club.

The Saints scored twice in two minutes late on to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory as Mohamed Elyounoussi and Che Adams headed home James Ward-Prowse crosses.

A Jan Bednarek own goal and a Son Heung-min effort either side of Armando Broja’s strike had put Spurs in a winning position, but Saints deserved the three points.

They peppered Tottenham’s goal with 23 shots, missing several clear chances, and deserved the luck of seeing Steven Bergwijn’s stoppage-time leveller for Spurs ruled out by VAR.

It was the Austrian’s 500th game as a manager and he could not be happier.

“Very proud today, we saw a fantastic game, coming back twice means a lot to the players, to me and shows how we have developed our game,” he said.

“When you score a goal like the second one with 23 passes before, it was a fantastic performance today.

“This is a nice thing in football, this is why we love the game, we see ups and downs. Unbelievable match.

“The way we played in the first half was one of the best I have seen from this team. We moved them around, had very good chances, should have made three or four goals in the first half.

“We have solutions and the tools to score, even against good organised teams. This is another step forward, it is fantastic to watch.

“I heard it was my 500th game as a manager and I will never forget this. It was a nice moment.”

Defeat was a big blow to Spurs’ top-four ambitions as they missed the chance to move within a point of West Ham, though they do have games in hand.

When Son put them ahead in the 70th minute they seemed primed to go on and win.

But boss Antonio Conte, who suffered a first home league defeat in charge, says his side are still too inconsistent and repeated his assertion that every game is a struggle.

“I know very well, and I repeat, in this season we are going to struggle to get three points,” he said.

“I said this before and I continue to repeat it. For sure we are improving in many aspects but we are still very emotional.

“Against Leicester we won 3-2 when we were losing, today we were winning 2-1 and lost 3-2.

“If we want to grow and try to be competitive as a team, the first thing you have to improve is stability. Not be up and down, up and down.

“This is a situation we have to improve. Also it is important to have players with experience to manage the situation during the game. It was a pity.

“My players gave 120 per cent today. Effort was maximum. I cannot say I didn’t see the right attitude, the right commitment. I have seen the maximum commitment.

“For this reason we have to try to avoid this defeat. We could have avoided this defeat, especially when you go 2-1 when there are 20 minutes to play.

“It happened, we have to take experience about this game and try to improve.”