Tottenham 4-1 Southampton: Kulusevski shines in opening-day win

Tottenham vs Southampton recap: Spurs fell behind early but scored the next four goals to open the 2022-23 Premier League season with a win in north London on Saturday.

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James Ward-Prowse gave Saints the lead after 12 minutes, then came the goals from Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier, Mohammed Salisu (own goal) and Dejan Kulusevski as Antonio Conte’s side picked up where they left off at the end of last season.

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Spurs scored four goals on the opening day of the season, and all Harry Kane and Heung-min Son contributed to the cause was one measly assist between them. After combining for 40 goals and 16 assists between them last season, Spurs’ dynamic duo took a comfortable backseat on Saturday, as Kulusevski largely ran the show from the right side. After conceding the early goal, Tottenham were a constant threat to win the ball high up the field and create scoring chances off one or two simple passes. Typically, Kane and Son gorge themselves on goals and assists in that scenario, but perhaps this season they’ll be a bit more balanced and multi-faceted in their approach.

For 15 minutes, Saints were comfortably the better wide while Spurs took their sweet time settling in. Once they did, though, it was as if a switch had been flipped (on both sides), as wave after wave of pressing and attacking came at them. 20-year-old goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu had a solid debut from a shot-stopping perspective, but the Irish international gave the ball away too easily when trying to play out of the back. From the moment Tottenham equalized, everything Saints tried to do was done under extreme duress. The midfield had no time on the ball, and as such the forwards were denied any