Tottenham 4-1 Southampton: Impressive Spurs lead Premier League

Tottenham recovered from a goal to impressively send Southampton 4-1 down in their Premier League opener and show their newfound strength from depth.

Lethal duo Harry Kane and Son Heung-min failed to make the scoresheet, but it was fellow striker Dejan Kulusevski who stole the show in London.

Swedish international Kulusevski created the equalizer for Ryan Sessegnon before he fired home a brilliant fourth after the break between an Eric Dier header and Mohammed Salisu's own goal.

It has heightened the growing expectation around Antonio Conte's side, who have been tipped by many to join champions Manchester City and Liverpool in the title hunt this season.

When James Ward-Prowse put the Saints ahead, those predictions seemed far from the truth, but the hosts immediately regrouped to start the new campaign strong.

Tottenham's impressive and rapid transfer activity had created a lot of excitement among the fans, but none of their six new signings made it into the starting lineup.

Guest boss Ralph Hasenhuttl was quick to add his summer additions with former Manchester City youngsters Gavin Bazunu and teenager Romeo Lavia both upfront while Joe Aribo also made his debut .

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It took 12 minutes for the first legitimate chance to arise and Southampton took full advantage to open the scoring through Ward-Prowse.

Moussa Djenepo swung away from Emerson Royal on the left and backed up to the edge of the area where his captain Ward-Prowse fired a volley, his effort bouncing off the ground and beating the Spurs skipper Hugo Lloris.

The hosts reacted well by conceding and only dragged on for nine minutes.

After Southampton dealt with a number of early crosses into the box, they had little response in the 21st minute when Kulusevski got back onto his left foot and rolled in wonderfully for Sessegnon, who jumped over Kyle Walker-Peters to power home the equalizer.

It was just the second goal the left winger had scored for Spurs since a big transfer from Fulham three summers ago.

Conte's side kept their foot on the gas and pulled off the 31st-minute comeback thanks to another unlikely source.

Son saw his initial corner clear, after Bazunu thwarted his left-footed effort moments earlier, but quickly regained possession and produced a nice inswinging delivery, which proved perfect for Dier ducks and heads for the bottom corner to make it 2-1.

Sessegnon put the ball in the net again immediately after half-time but his excellent right-footed finish was called off for offside.

Tottenham should have gone two goals up by now with Kane denied by Bazunu before the break and Son wasted six yards when he could have passed to his partner in crime.

While the duo scored 40 Premier League goals between them last season, it was Kulusevski who took center stage on this occasion.

The Swede nearly put Sessegnon back in place with a delightful pass before the third came on for the hosts in the 61st minute.

Emerson led a counter-attack and exchanged passes with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Son before his scuffed cross was put into his own net by an off-balance Salisu.

Kulusevski kept the best until the end when he clung to Emerson's severed back, opened his body and curled into the bottom corner with aplomb to make it 4-1 and give Spurs a second goal in the space of two minutes.

Conte made a late four-time substitution and handed Ivan Perisic, Clement Lenglet and Yves Bissouma their debuts to further whet the appetite of Tottenham fans on a fine opening day.

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