After being held by a Southampton team that played for more than 50 minutes with 10 men, Antonio Conte says Tottenham must “improve a lot” and it “won’t be simple to fight for something this season.”
Spurs were 1-0 down at St Mary’s as James Ward-Prowse darted over a bouncing ball and volleyed a twisting goal past Frenchman, Hugo Lloris.
However, the game was thrown into disarray for the Saints when Mohammed Salisu fouled Son Heung-min in the box, earning him a second booking in 12 minutes and allowing Harry Kane to equalize from the penalty spot.
Conte said after becoming the first manager in Tottenham’s history to go undefeated in his first seven league games, “My demands are extremely high because I am used to being competitive and to win – and, for sure, there is a tremendous disappointment for me when we don’t win.”
“We need to improve a lot. For sure it was an opportunity that we missed. When you have this type of situation you have to try to exploit, to try to get three points.”
Southampton boss, Ralph Hasenhuttl made six changes from his side’s Boxing Day win at West Ham, and Kyle Walker-Peters represented his side’s grit and resilience in the second half, leaping to deflect a header away from Kane before taking a Ben Davies shot straight in the face.
Armando Broja robbed Tottenham defender Eric Dier before firing over in injury time, sparing Spurs more misery on a day when they could have taken more.
Southampton, who have only been beaten at home by Wolves all season, earned a point to move up to 13th in the rankings.
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