Antonio Conte sets new Tottenham record despite ‘big disappointment’ of Southampton draw

Conte comments on decision to rule out Kane goal at Southampton

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Antonio Conte has set a new club record at Tottenham despite admitting his “big disappointment” with his side’s draw at Southampton. Spurs were lacklustre for long periods of the Premier League clash at St Mary’s as they fell behind West Ham and Arsenal in the race to finish in the top four.

The visitors even went behind when James Ward-Prowse produced a wonderful volley that curled past Hugo Lloris when a throw-in was not cleared.

Southampton maintained control of the game after that goal, with Spurs struggling to make any inroads.

But Conte’s men were handed a lifeline just before half-time when Mohammed Salisu brought down Heung-Min Son and was sent off, with Harry Kane scoring the subsequent penalty.

With a man advantage, Tottenham dominated the ball in the second-half, ending up with 65 per cent of the possession across the 90 minutes, but failed to make it count.

It was ultimately a disappointing draw for Spurs, who are now five points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.

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While it was only a draw, it did maintain Conte’s unbeaten start in the Premier League since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo in the Tottenham dugout.

The four wins and three draws that Spurs have achieved under the Italian means that he is the first manager to remain unbeaten in his first seven league matches as the club’s manager.

The point at St Mary’s ensured that Conte has now surpassed Jacques Santini and Tim Sherwood in terms of best starts to a managerial reign at Tottenham.

Both of those bosses were able to make it to six games unbeaten, with Santini winning two and drawing four, while Sherwood won five and drew once.

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Conte’s seven unbeaten matches is a mark of his managerial ability and has helped to drag Tottenham back into top four contention.

Despite setting that record though, Conte admitted that he was disappointed to see his side held to a draw.

“My demands are high because I am used to being competitive and to win,” he said.

“For me there is a big disappointment when we don’t win. We need to work a lot because it won’t be easy to fight for something this season.”

With Spurs having three games in hand on the Gunners going into the game, Conte also believes that it was a missed opportunity to close the hap on their fierce rivals.

“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,” he added.

“We knew very well that to play against Southampton in this stadium is not easy. The situation at one point of the game was positive for us.

“But as I said before, I think in the second half we felt fatigue and our mind wasn’t clear to make the best decision. This can happen.”

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