Wed 05 February 2020, 23:47
Tottenham HotspurJose Mourinho described the players as ‘phenomenal’ after a late comeback saw us home in our FA Cup fourth round replay on Wednesday night.
Southampton impressed and took a 2-1 lead through Danny Ings on 72 minutes.
It looked a long way back from there – don’t forget, we were without injured pair Giovani Lo Celso and Erik Lamela, plus Harry Kane, Moussa Sissoko and Ben Davies, and ineligible Steven Bergwijn - but the players dug deep.
Lucas Moura finished from the edge of the box to level it up on 78 minutes and then, five minutes from time, Dele found Heung-Min Son with a superb pass, Sonny was fouled by Angus Gunn and picked himself up to slot home the winner from the penalty spot.
Earlier, Tanguy Ndombele fired us ahead via a deflection on 12 minutes only for Shane Long to level on 34.
Everyone is giving absolutely everything. To lose after giving so much would have been painful. I’m so happy for them. They were phenomenal
“It’s a big cup game, two teams played at the maximum of their potential,” said Jose. “For the players who didn’t play, it wasn’t my choice, it was because they couldn’t play.
“Southampton came with their best team and they were very strong, stronger than us physically. They were fresher, had more intensity, they tried to win the game, they didn’t want to defend the result or try to wait for something to happen, they were brave and we had to cope with that with a game plan that was detail by detail.
“Dele could only play 30 minutes (he injured his ankle on Sunday) so we could not play with a link player without Lo Celso, Lamela and Bergwijn and we had to wait for the right moment, that was the same moment to bring in Gedson, who finds more space with tired players.
“We started with a back five, resist, kept ourselves in the result and the only thing that wasn’t in the programme was to concede a second goal, a second goal could kill us mentally.
“But I think it was the click, the click for the boys to give everything and I’m so, so pleased for the guys.
“We’ve a very small group of players with so many problems we’re having, and everyone is giving absolutely everything. To lose after giving so much would have been painful. I’m so happy for them. They were phenomenal. The way they reacted was fantastic, showed incredible heart and connection with the crowd. I think the best team lost - but we deserved to win.”
