Image Credit: Evening Standard
By Lee Clow 25 January 2020 | FA Cup
Southampton found a late equaliser through Sofiane Boufal to earn a replay against Tottenham in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Having lost in this league fixture a few weeks ago, Tottenham went into the game looking for revenge and they almost had the perfect start when Heung-Min Son was played in through on goal. The South Korean was played through by Dele Alli, following a quick break, and looked certain to score but the Spurs number 7 dragged his shot wide of the goal.
Moments later, Spurs had another chance to score through Dele. From a Southampton goal kick, Serge Aurier powerfully headed the ball through to Dele who skipped past the home sides defence but the England man could not control and lift it over Angus Gunn.
Southampton responded well to Tottenham’s attacks and began creating chances of their own. Three corners on the bounce and a few speculative shots showed what Southampton had to offer but the visitors defence was not majorly troubled.
On the 28th minute, Spurs thought they took the lead as they had the ball in the back of the net. Toby Alderweireld beautifully delivered a ball from the back towards Lucas Moura who managed to take the ball down and feed Dele before backheeling to Giovani Lo Celso who placed the ball in the back of the net. Unfortunately for Spurs, VAR intervened and ruled the goal out for offside as Son was in the line of Gunn when the shot came through.
Tottenham continued their dominance and again came very close to scoring. Moura was played in through on goal and like Son earlier in the game looked certain to score but Gunn excellently got a foot out to deflect the ball away from goal.
It was now the home sides turn to attack and they almost scored from their man of the moment, Danny Ings. The Saints striker managed to get past the Spurs defence and skip past Hugo Lloris but Japhet Tanganga made a crucial goal line clearance to deny Ings’ shot.
The teams went into the interval on level terms with Spurs just edging the tie having created the better of the chances.
Early in the second half, Southampton had a huge chance to take the lead in the tie. A lovely ball across the box found Ings who delicately touched the ball towards the goal, but it agonisingly fell wide of Lloris’ goal.
On the 58th minute, the deadlock was finally broken, and it was Spurs who benefited. Substitute Erik Lamela made an instant impact by feeding in Son, who this time composed his finish to fire Spurs ahead.
Moments later, Son came very close to scoring his second and doubling Spurs’ lead. A lovely dink over the defence found the South Korean but his effort just rose over the bar letting Southampton off the hook.
Late in the second half, the game began to die out with Spurs letting their foot off the gas. Southampton started to capitalize on this by creating chances with Ings coming closet with a long-range effort just going wide of the post.
Four minutes before time, Southampton found a deserved equaliser after piling on huge pressure on the Spurs defence. A lovely break down the left lead to a cross for Sofiane Boufal to smash home first time and equalise for the home side.
The final whistle blew, and the sides could not be separated resulting in replay to be played at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
What’s next?
Having failed to find a winner, a replay will be played at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium to see which side will proceed to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Tottenham return to Premier League action next Sunday as they face champions Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. For Southampton they visit champions elect Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
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