Premier League: Sherwood: We won’t give up Gunners chase
AT WHITE HART LANE
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3 SOUTHAMPTON 2
TOTTENHAM manager Tim Sherwood yesterday refused to give up the chase for Champions League qualification after moving to within six points of north London rivals Arsenal.
Following the Gunners’ 6-0 humbling at Chelsea on Saturday, Spurs recovered from two goals down at White Hart Lane to take maximum points thanks to a stoppage-time winner from midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Though Arsenal have a game in hand on their north London rivals and look near certainties for a top-four finish, Sherwood is adamant his team will not give up the chase.
“We’re a point behind where we were last year and pushed Arsenal really close, so who knows what can happen,” he said. “It is squeaky bum time, time for the men to stand up and get as many points as we can.”
Spurs found themselves 2-0 down after 28 minutes as England duo Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana profited from defensive errors by right-back Kyle Naughton.
But Sherwood felt the character to atone for those errors by Naughton typified the spirit within his team that recovered to win with goals either side of half-time from Christian Eriksen and Sigurdsson’s late strike.
“The lads were fantastic. It wasn’t free-flowing, it wasn’t fantastic football, but you’ve got to find other ways to win,” he added.
“We found enough ways to win last year, we had Gareth Bale who’s a world class footballer, doing it in Spain now at the very top level. We haven’t got him anymore, we’ve got to find other ways to win and the boys are really grouping together and we’re going in the right direction.”
Spurs fell behind on 19 minutes when a long kick forward from goalkeeper Artur Boruc bounced over the head of Naughton, gifting Rodriguez the chance to finish calmly for his third goal in as many games.
The Saints doubled their advantage when Naughton conceded possession cheaply to Rickie Lambert, who set up Lallana to finish low.
Another defensive error, this time from Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne who stumbled on the ball, presented a chance for Eriksen to sweep in and start the fight back three minutes later.
A minute after the interval Eriksen netted again, turning in Roberto Soldado’s low cross from close range. And Spurs snatched the points when Eriksen teed up Sigurdsson to fire in from 25 yards.