Ange Postecoglou heaped praise on the players after our five-star first half display secured a 5-0 win at Southampton on Sunday.
Our opening goal inside the first minute set the tone at St Mary’s as goals from James Maddison (2), Heung-Min Son Dejan Kulusevski and Pape Matar Sarr saw us 5-0 up at half-time for the first time in the Premier League.
Djed Spence, making his first Premier League start, alongside Lucas Bergvall, paved the way for that lightning start with a run from deep, shrugging off Flyne Downes’ attempts to drag him down before sliding in for Maddison to finish. Sonny converted from Madders’ cross on 12 minutes, Deki fired home from close range for 3-0 two minutes later, Pape ran on to Sonny’s pass to finish for 4-0 on 25 minutes before Madders somehow found the top corner from the byline in added time.
There was another milestone for Sonny - **[his two assists took him level and then past Darren Anderton’s previous club best of 67 assists in the Premier League era.](https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2024/december/heung-min-son-breaks-spurs-premier-league-assist-record/)**
Speaking to our Review Show from St Mary’s, Ange pointed to the energy on show, particularly in that first half, just 72 hours after a gruelling European clash against Rangers in Glasgow.
“It was outstanding from the players,” he said. “We had a tough European game away on Thursday night, it’s no secret… we had 10 first team players unavailable today, 10 out of a list of 25, and the fact the boys can go out there and play with such energy and such quality, credit to them. I couldn’t be happier for them.”
Here’s what else he had to say...
_What pleased you most?_
Ange: “The mental aptitude to not let our current circumstances and where we’re at at the moment affect out mindset. The boys went out there determined to play quality football, and play with energy, even though they shouldn’t have any, because, as I’ve said, I keep asking the same players and others who haven’t played at all, to go out there and produce those levels. Again, it’s credit to all of them.”
_There were first starts in the Premier League for Lucas Bergvall and Djed Spence, who made quite an impact..._
Ange: “He did, straight from the start. That’s what I mean. He’s bided his time, he’s been patient, to be fair, whenever he’s played, he’s come on and done a job, we just haven’t had the opportunity to give him more time because, to be honest, full-back is one area where we do have cover because Pedro’s there, Archie’s there. He started the game really well, got tired in the second half, but really important for us because we needed him not just to play, but to play at a level, and he certainly did that.”
_You say cover at full-back, but Destiny had to come off after 28 minutes - do you have any news on him?_
Ange: “Hopefully it’s not too bad. Actually, he wanted to continue, we’re down to the bare bones at the moment, so it was a pretty easy decision to take him off.”
_A result like this must be a timely boost before another huge game (Carabao Cup quarter-final) against United on Thursday night?_
Ange: “Yeah, look, every game is big for us now. We knew this period would be tough, but as long as the lads keep showing that attitude... we know when we play our football, irrespective of who we’re playing against, we’re a tough team to stop.”