Southampton face more misery after unwanted Premier League record set against Tottenham

Down and out with barely a whimper in record time. And the sad news for ’s loyal fans, who continued to applaud their players long after their

Attention now turns to finding the two points required to ensure they do not become the ’s worst ever team. And with , and among their remaining seven opponents, achieving a draw to tie with Derby County’s infamous class of 2008 appears no sure thing.

This latest defeat, a 25th in 31 games, appeared inevitable once Brennan Johnson scored the first of a pair after 12 minutes. Saints, the first side to go down with seven games still to play, were toothless in attack, devoid of intensity in midfield and sloppy at the back – common themes throughout their season.

For Spurs, meanwhile, this was a relatively comfortable win that should provide them with a little confidence before Thursday’s crucial quarter-final versus Eintracht Frankfurt.

The first half in particular was cohesive, though Ange Postecoglou was mildly frustrated by how his players relaxed in an uneventful second period.

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Johnson’s opener began with Sergio Romero playing a quick pass forward that cut Saints open with brutal ease. Djed Spence then played a give and go with Son Heung-min before advancing down the left and sending a pinpoint cross for Johnson to finish first time.

That moved the Welsh winger on to 10 league goals, the first Spurs player to hit double digits this season.

And his 11th arrived three minutes before the break when Southampton couldn’t clear Pedro Porro’s delivery from the right, allowing a free header to find Johnson in the box. He calmly finished with his right foot under minimal pressure to already seal Saints’ fate.

Between Johnson’s brace, teenager Lucas Bergvall was denied a first Premier League goal by a VAR check that took close to five minutes.

Postecoglou, two days after suggesting his enjoyment of the sport had been spoiled by the refereeing system, shrugged his shoulders as Sergio Romero was eventually judged to have strayed marginally offside when heading a deep Porro free-kick across goal for Bergvall to convert.

Romero had already been twice denied from diving headers that did well to save – the latter with his face. Yet for all their goalkeeper’s efforts, this was just another sorry afternoon for Saints.

The second half was a non-event and Postecoglou also rued his substitutes’ ability to make much of an impact. Dominic Solanke did bring a solid parry from Ramsdale, who then chased his rebound and deliberately handled the ball outside the penalty area but escaped without a booking.

Perhaps the officials decided Ramsdale had suffered enough.

But nothing else really happened until Matheus Fernandes pulled one back in the final minute of normal time, cheating down Kamaldeen Sulemana’s delivery before swiping past Guglielmo Vicario.

Yet even their fans’ gallows humour chants of “We are staying up” were swiftly silenced when Johnson was hauled down inside the box by substitute Welington moments later.

Mathys Tel stepped up to convert instead of allowing Johnson a chance to secure his hat-trick, though there was no sense of frustration from Spurs’ standout man as he toasted loanee Tel’s first league strike.

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