SOME light relief for Ange Postecoglou at last as his side dispatched possibly the worst team in Premier League history.
But the Aussie will know it will have done little to change the minds of fans accusing him of being the worst Spurs Prem boss ever.
Two goals from Brennan Johnson secured a 3-1 win for Tottenham[/caption]
No, the only way to win over those doubters is to go all the way in the Europa League.
And even then, some are already steadfast in believing he is the wrong man for the job.
Still, this comfortable victory, courtesy of a Brennan Johnson double, was most welcome for the under-pressure gaffer – and confirmed Southampton’s relegation to the Championship.
The South-coasters became the fastest Prem team to go down as they still have seven games to go.
That is one more than the infamous Derby side of 2007-08 – whose record 11-point haul Saints are still two shy of beating – had left when they received their ‘R’ status, as well as Huddersfield in 2018-19.
With that in mind, there was little to be gained for up-against-it Postecoglou here.
Even a repeat of December’s 5-0 thrashing at St Mary’s – which saw Russell Martin axed about an hour after full-time – would have hardly shifted the dial.
There was everything to lose though because had his side been embarrassed, they would have lost at home to the three sides all set for the drop this season, having been vanquished on their own turf by Leicester and Ipswich.
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Fans would have called for his head AHEAD of Thursday’s crunch quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Fortunately, that was avoided.
But the 59-year-old remains just as much in the mire as he was before this game thanks to a dismal league campaign involving 16 defeats which had plunged them as low as 16th before this game.
They are up to 13th now but it will do little to quell the fuming frustration among supporters, a thousand of whom took part in another protest against chairman Daniel Levy and the ownership outside the ground before the game.
It took just 20 seconds for the South Stand to start chanting “We want Levy out”.
The atmosphere was strange; eerily quiet, almost like a pre-season friendly.
Spurs fans held a protest before the match[/caption]
Some managed to get their banners inside the stadium[/caption]
Things felt as if they could turn toxic at any minute, given the anger towards the board as well as the week – and the season, really – Postecoglou was having.
The under-pressure Aussie appeared to mock his own supporters by cupping his ear during Thursday’s 1-0 defeat at Chelsea – though denied he meant it as a wind-up.
Had Kamaldeen Sulemana turned home a cross from Spurs target Tyler Dibling on 12 minutes, the sound of the fury may well have been deafening.
But instead the Ghanaian’s effort hit the post via a Pedro Porro deflection and the hosts survived.
Johnson’s first goal came after 13 minutes[/caption]
He bagged a second minutes before half-time[/caption]
And within a minute, Spurs were ahead through Johnson’s first.
Ange Ball seems to have disappeared for most of this dismal season but this goal was a fine move, albeit against poor quality.
Cristian Romero, who had earlier seen a powerful header saved, played a long ball up to James Maddison.
The England man laid it wide to captain Son Heung-min, who fed the overlapping Djed Spence to tee up Johnson for his tenth league goal of the season.
Johnson’s double saw Spurs smile for the first time in a whlie[/caption]
Even beleaguered Ange Postecoglou was charmed by the performance[/caption]
Then came the first of the VAR checks, which eventually ruled that an offside-looking Dominic Solanke was not interfering with play.
Saints fans responded with self-deprecating chants of ‘Championship again, ole ole’ as they prepared for relegation.
Ramsdale was the only reason this game was not over sooner, as he bravely took a goal-bound Romero header flush in the face.
It kept him down on the ground receiving treatment for quite some time – but nothing like as long as the VAR check that eventually denied Lucas Bergvall of a first Premier League goal soon after.
Mateus Fernandes gave Saints a glimmer of hope with a 90th minute goal[/caption]
Mathys Tel’s late penalty made sure of the result[/caption]
The Swede, 19, was off celebrating after cleverly hooking in a Romero knock-down.
But then a near five-minute delay eventually spotted defender Romero to have been a gnat’s wing offside and it was chalked off.
Postecoglou, who on Friday vowed not to celebrate goals anymore for fear of them being chalked off by Stockley Park, amusingly pretended to flick a coin and rock, paper, scissors during the interminably-long wait for a decision.
It was as if to say that whatever call VAR came up with would be pot luck.
Ivan Juric is unlikely to be leading Southampton in the second tier[/caption]
It was a day – and a season – to forget for Saints’ flops[/caption]
The second half felt like a training-ground exercise as the teams played out time, until Fernandes disturbed the stupor by smashing home at the far post in stoppage time.
Even that surprise boost failed to last as sub Welington tripped Johnson, allowing fellow sub Tel to fire home the penalty for his first Prem goal.
It felt very much like a whimper for Saints to go out on,
And it gave little confidence to supporters that Ivan Juric’s target to the team of avoiding being the worst Premier League team ever – by beating Derby’s pitiful tally – will be achieved.
Juric may well be gone before the season is out, anyway.
Whether Postecoglou suffers the same fate remains to be seen, but nothing on view here would have affected that decision either way.