Talking points from Tottenham’s rout of Southampton

Son nets four, Kane assists four straight to a big Tottenham victory

Tottenham Hotspur got back to winning ways in the Premier League after an opening day loss by thrashing Southampton 5-2 at the St.Mary’s stadium. Son Heung-min reigned supreme with four goals, all assisted by Harry Kane, who then scored one himself late in the match as the visitors ran riot in the second stanza.

On either side of the onslaught was a brace from Danny Ings, who put the side ahead early on, and then netted a consolation penalty at the death to reduce the deficit. While the Lillywhites pick up their first three points of the season, the Saints were condemned to a second defeat from two games, leaving them at the bottom of the table.

Here are the major talking points from the match:

Stupendous Son

Son Heung-min netted his first-ever quadruple to wipe the floor with the Saints. After being criticized in the opening day loss to Everton for holding on to the ball a second or two too long that fizzled out Tottenham‘s attack, he assumed the role of the destroyer-in-chief at the St.Mary’s.

His positioning was deadly, exploiting Southampton’s high-line with lung-bursting runs right through the heart of the defense, while his finishing was devastating, clinically dispatching his chances to rack up an amazing super hat-trick.

https://twitter.com/Squawka/status/1307667991056846848

He timed his runs to perfection and also devoured Alex McCarthy in one-on-one situations. The Korean assassin was in top-form all noon, and with this, he’s scored a third of what he managed in the whole of last season (11)!

Kane turns provider

In normal circumstances, it would’ve been the other way round, but Kane was content to provide constant service to Son today, making four assists in a match for the very first time in his career. He often found himself in clever positions to receive the pass and then laid it off for Son with pinpoint passes and through balls. He became just the sixth player in Premier League to make four assists in a single match and the first to lay all four to a single player. Now that’s some next-level telepathic connection right there!

Kane’s one of the best penalty-box strikers in the league but offers little in terms of creation. So it was refreshing to see a new side of his game and showed how deadly he can be even as a provider. To put the icing on the cake, the English star then bagged a strike for himself late in the match to put the final nail in Southampton’s coffin.

Southampton’s frail defense

This game had shades of the 9-0 thrashing at the hands of Leicester City last season, for the Saints were ruthlessly exposed at the back once again. What’s more concerning was the inability to prevent the same type of opportunities from being created again and again. Kane always found Son from the deep, and the latter constantly got the better of the high-line to break forward and score.

There were warning signs when Spurs had a pair of goals ruled out for offside in the opening half, but the hosts contrived to turn a deaf ear to it and duly paid the price. Southampton have now lost all three games of the 2020/21 season so far, conceding eight times in the process, something which should really worry Ralph Hasenhuttl.