By Martin Rowe
Southampton have been anxiously looking over their shoulders after another defeat at the weekend, this time at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.
The Saints had thought they were safe after getting to 39 points – but after taking their foot off the pedal now find themselves being sucked into the relegation scrap.
The Saints had been looking to bounce back from the 3-0 home defeat to West Brom with Luke Shaw returning to the side.
It was the Saints who carved open the better of the chances at White Hart Lane with a Rickie Lambert pass finding Nathaniel Clyne who saw his shot go wide of Hugo Lloris’ goal.
Lambert then came close with a low driven free kick that hit the post after a fingertip save from the French goalkeeper, Do Prado crossed the loose ball only to find Steven Davis who headed straight at Lloris.
Spurs didn’t really get going until Emmanuel Adebayor came on and gave Tottenham a different dimension to their game.
Straight away he was involved in a smart move as his flick-on found Clint Dempsey who shot over.
The game seemed to be petering out for a draw – which was probably all Saints needed – until a former Southampton player broke the deadlock.
Gareth Bale cut inside before hitting a rasping effort past Artur Boruc from 25-yards out.
The PFA Player and Young Player of the Year scored the winner to keep Spurs on course for a top-four finish and dent the chances of the Saints securing survival.
The defeat leaves Saints in 14th place and four points above the drop-zone with two games left to play – away to relegation threatened Sunderland and Stoke City at home.