PRESSURE was piled on Saints manager Russell Martin as his side shipped all five goals in the first half of their 5-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Saints conceded their earliest Premier League goal since November 2013 when James Maddison opened the scoring in just 36 seconds.

Heung-min Son and Dejan Kulusevski ended the tie as a contest with a double-salvo two minutes apart, prompting discontent in the fanbase.

Martin made a defensive system change and it took Pape Sarr another 10 minutes to add the fourth before Maddison got his second in first-half added time.

Mateus Fernandes had a headed goal ruled out for offside in the second half, meaning Saints suffered their heaviest home defeat since April 2022. 

The result leaves Saints bottom of the Premier League table and nine points adrift of safety having lost 13 of their first 16 matches this season. 

Martin handed Kamaldeen Sulemana his first Premier League start of the season as the most eye-catching of his four lineup changes.

The boss clearly had Tottenham Hotspur's high line in mind, tasking the Ghanian to use his pace to get behind Ange Postecoglou's struggling charges.

Alex McCarthy and Jan Bednarek returned to the starting team while Joe Aribo's place was also restored in a change to a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond system.

Spurs had been having their problems ahead of this clash and, due to injuries, had to start with 18 year old midfielder Archie Gray in centre-back.

But they had only failed to score in a league game against Saints once in the last 22 meetings and took just 36 seconds to register at St Mary's.

Maddison was played through the middle of the defence by Djed Spence and finished under McCarthy for his side's earliest goal in the league since January 2018.

It took over 10 minutes for Spurs to get their second, when a Bednarek headed clearance fell kindly for to Son grab his 11th league goal against Saints.

Kulusevski was then quickest off the mark to thump home the third from close range after a contest between Bednarek and Dominic Solanke two minutes later.

Having had eight days since their last outing to devise his plan, Martin ripped up those designs and substituted a furious Kamaldeen after the third goal.

The boss turned to Nathan Wood, who impressed at Aston Villa, and reverted to a five-man defence - an embarrassing admission of failure. 

Sarr danced through the Saints defence to make it 4-0 in the 25th minute, prompting swathes of home supporters to head for the exits.

Those who remained vocalised clearly their discontent, chanting 'We want Martin out,' in unison the likes of which had not yet been seen at St Mary's.

McCarthy made two strong saves to deny Son the fifth while Adam Armstrong fired narrowly wide after brilliant work from Tyler Dibling and Ryan Manning.

Dibling, 18, was at the centre of everything positive for Saints following the initial four-goal salvo, which they recovered reasonably well from.

They looked like they might reach half-time without further punishment but Maddison had space to touch and power in from the acutest of angles.

Ange Postecoglou clearly felt the game was wrapped up and took off Son during the break, which saw the hosts assert some control back.

Wood went close to his first Saints goal but volleyed wide and then set up Dibling for an attempt outside the area before insult was added to injury.

Fernandes headed past former Saint Fraser Forster, prompting a slightly ironic wild celebration, but the linesman's offside call was confirmed as correct. 

The Saints supporters saw out three minutes of added time singing 'Marching in,' but had already made their thoughts clear in the moments prior. 

Saints: McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Manning (Sugawara, 61); Downes, Aribo, Fernandes; Dibling; Armstrong (Archer, 81), Kamaldeen (Wood, 15).

Unused subs: Lumley, Bree, Lallana, Fraser, Amo-Ameyaw, Onuachu.

Booked: Fernandes.

Spurs: Forster; Spence (Dorrington, 77), Dragusin, Gray, Udogie (Porro, 27); Sarr, Bergvall, Maddison (Werner, 77); Kulusevski, Son (Johnson, h-t), Solanke (Lankshear, 83).

Unused subs: Austin, Olusesi, Bradley King, John Hardy.

Booked: Bergvall, Maddison

Referee: Darren England.

VAR: Paul Tierney.