Tottenham Hotspur advanced into the next round of the FA Cup by snatching a late victory over Southampton on Wednesday evening.
Snapshot
Spurs were quickly heading towards extra-time and maybe even penalties in their fourth-round replay in north London until Heung-min Son slotted home an 87th-minute penalty.
The home side had opened the scoring early on when Tanguy Ndombele’s shot rebounded in off centre-back Jack Stephens before Shane Long tapped in a rebounded effort to equalise shortly later.
Saints then took the lead with less than 20 minutes to go when Danny Ings curled a shot round Hugo Lloris but Lucas Moura quickly levelled things up once again with a strike from range.
Off the Bench
Jose Mourinho’s side had their backs against the wall for most of the first half as the visitors managed eight shots compared to Spurs’ two as well as creating two ‘big chances’. They were even passing them off the park, recording 122 more passes, via SofaScore.
But the game swung in their favour after the Portuguese boss introduced two second-half substitutes, one of which being Dele Alli, who proved to be instrumental in their dramatic winner.
In the final 45 minutes, Spurs were more of a match for the Saints as they were within just three passes this time around and also managed the same number of shots at goal.
Alli was pivotal in this as the figures from his 29-minute cameo show – per SofaScore, the 23-year-old recorded a 92% passing accuracy with 100% long ball accuracy.
The England midfielder provided the assist for the penalty as his expert vision pinpointed Son’s marauding run inside the area before he was felled and given the spot-kick.
Mourinho’s masterstroke tactical decision in this game is merely a microcosm of the improvement in form Alli has undergone since the new boss took the helm at the end of November.
Under Mauricio Pochettino this season, before he was sacked, Alli only managed two goals and one assist but he’s since added six goals and three assists, via Tranfermarkt.
Mourinho’s produced some incredible footballing stars – how much do you know about them?
Spurs are now on course to contend for FA Cup glory and have edged into the top four race in the Premier League all because of Mourinho, he may get some stick – but he clearly knows what he’s doing.
And in other news, Spurs fans think they have found Mourinho’s successor already…