Tottenham Hotspur 1, Southampton 2: I don’t care about Arsenal, insists Mauricio Pochettino as race for second goes down to wire
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino played down the need for Spurs to compare themselves with north London rivals Arsenal after defeat to former club Southampton ensured the fight for second place will go down to the wire.
Victory over the Saints would have all but guaranteed Spurs runners up spot but a Steven Davis double completed Southampton’s fightback to boost their hopes of Europa League qualification after Heung-min Son’s early strike.
With their Premier League title bid now defunct and Champions League football secured, the remaining sub-plot of Tottenham’s campaign is whether they can finish above Arsenal for the first time since 1995.
A draw against Newcastle, who will be relegated if Sunderland beat Everton on Wednesday, should be enough for Spurs to secure second on the season’s final day barring a huge Arsenal win against Aston Villa. Pochettino, however, insists Tottenham have loftier long-term ambitions.
“I don’t care about Arsenal. I want to win the league and I want to be on the top, but Arsenal, I don’t care what happens,” said Pochettino.
“To want to be above them, this is normal, but to try to improve and to try to be bigger and bigger and bigger then we need to look at ourselves and not care what happens with our neighbours.
“We need to create and build our own philosophy and our own ideas and then the consequence is to be above all of our opponents, not just Arsenal. We need to spend our energy to try and win games like today.”
Tottenham opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Son sprinted onto an Erik Lamela pass, rounded hesitant Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster and forced the ball into an unguarded net. The goal was Tottenham’s 68th of the season – their highest tally in a Premier League campaign.
Southampton retaliated and levelled shortly after the half hour mark as Davis turned home a Dusan Tadic cross at the near post after the Serbia winger had superbly controlled a pumped ball forward from full-back Cuco Martina.
Saints seized the initiative and netted their winner inside the final 20 minutes as Davis exchanged passes with Tadic before his low, skiddy effort from the edge of the penalty area squirmed beyond the reach of Spurs skipper Hugo Lloris.