Tottenham registered their first Premier League victory since late November after recording a 5-0 win against Southampton on Sunday evening. Following Thursday evening's 1-1 draw against Rangers in the Europa League, Ange Postecoglou shuffled his pack and handed Djed Spence and Lucas Bergvall their first Premier League starts in a Spurs shirt.

Timo Werner was one of those to drop out the starting XI from the Rangers game, which wasn't that much of a surprise to Tottenham fans going on his half-time substitution and the head coach's post-match comments. Needing to make a fast start to proceedings, the visitors did exactly that with only 37 seconds on the clock as Spence teed up James Maddison for the opener.

It was to get even better for Spurs on 12 minutes as Son Heung-min found the back of the net with a cool finish inside the box after Maddison's cross was deflected into his path. Their lead was to be extended even further as Dejan Kulusevski got his name on the scoresheet from a matter of yards out and then Pape Matar Sarr showed some brilliant footwork to find the net after some good work between Destiny Udogie and Son.

READ MORE: Every word Ange Postecoglou said on Djed Spence, Lucas Bergvall, Son and Destiny Udogie injury

READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings vs Southampton with Maddison and Son brilliant as Sarr and Spence impress

Plenty of Southampton supporters left the stadium after Sarr's strike, meaning they avoided seeing their side concede a fifth goal on the stroke of half-time as Maddison helped himself to a second of the contest from a tight angle. Tottenham weren't to add to their scoreline in the second half but the most important thing was they put their recent woes to bed. Here are five things we spotted in the game at St Mary's:

Spence stars

Spence has had to be incredibly patient when it has come to getting a first Tottenham start following his move from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2022. Almost 30 months on from his transfer to the club, the right-back came into the Spurs XI from the off at Southampton in the place of Pedro Porro.

At a time when Tottenham have been dealing with a host of injuries at present, Spence has been desperately unlucky not to feature more for the north London club. It has been evident in recent games that Porro requires a rest, with the Spaniard only getting 28 minutes on the touchline ahead of Thursday evening's vital Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United due to Udogie's first-half injury.

Spence was to make an instant impact on proceedings following a driving run from his own half to play in Maddison with the outside of his boot with only 37 seconds on the clock. It was outstanding play from the incoming player as he demonstrated to all why he should be playing more regularly.

The ex-England Under-21 international was a constant outlet for Spurs down the right and he was very impressive whenever he was on the ball. He did likewise when moved across to the left in wake of Udogie's injury seconds after Sarr had made it 4-0, before later making way in the 77th minute of the contest.

Ramsdale comments backfire

On the subject of Spence, former Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was forced to eat his words 37 seconds into the contest following the full-back's starring role in Maddison's opener. Part of the TNT Sports lineup as he is currently not available for Southampton due to injury, the shot-stopper gave his thoughts on the game and pointed to Spence and Archie Gray's inclusion after a lack of game time as something Saints could possibly use to their advantage.

"I think for us, no matter if they had every player out there, every game is a big opportunity," he explained. "Especially the way we play people sometimes don't know how to deal with us as long as we don't hurt ourselves.

"But tonight, especially with their absences, Archie Gray playing centre-half, he's a wonderful player but to be playing centre-half for the second time for Tottenham at 18 [years of age] in a big game where both teams have struggled of late brings pressure.

"I remember watching Djed Spence in the Championship go up with [Nottingham] Forest, so we know he's a great player as well. To come out from the cold almost and compete in the Premier League is going to be tough, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage and push on for three points."

That's not exactly how things panned out for Southampton as they slumped to a 5-0 defeat, with Tottenham putting themselves on their way to victory 37 seconds into the contest courtesy of Spence's sublime run.

Kids called up

The true extent of Tottenham's injury and suspension crisis was laid bare at St Mary's. Having a number of experienced players on the substitutes' bench to call upon one week ago in the 4-3 defeat to Chelsea, that wasn't exactly the case on the south coast.

Unable to select Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven this week due to the injuries the pair picked up on their returns against Chelsea, Yves Bissouma was also absent through suspension and joined Rodrigo Bentancur in the stands. That meant that a host of academy players were included along with the likes of Porro, Werner and Brennan Johnson on the bench at Southampton.

In terms of Tottenham players on the bench with Premier League experience, Will Lankshear was next in line with one minute of action to his name in the recent 1-1 draw with Fulham. Brandon Austin has been on the Tottenham bench as second-choice goalkeeper a handful of times in the past but the academy graduate still doesn't have a senior Spurs appearance to his name.

Alfie Dorrington, Callum Olusesi, Maeson King and Malachi Hardy made up the bench for Tottenham at Southampton. Spurs' first-half rout allowed Dorrington to make his senior bow as he replaced Spence for the final 15 minutes of the contest.

A message for Levy

It was all one way at St Mary's as Tottenham raced into a three-goal lead with only 14 minutes on the clock. In desperate need of a win to put their recent poor form to bed, Spurs' start to proceedings couldn't have gone any better.

Amid Tottenham's results of late, chairman Daniel Levy has come in for plenty of criticism from some Tottenham fans. A number of supporters at St Mary's on Sunday evening had a message for 62-year-old as they chanted his name a number of times over the course of the game.

It went: "I don't care about Levy, he don't care about me, all I care about is Kulusevski."

Perfect preparation for midweek

Southampton proved to be the ideal opponents as Tottenham returned to winning ways in the Premier League. In desperate need of three points after their woes of late, the opening to the game was extremely pleasing to see from a Tottenham perspective as they raced into a 3-0 lead with only 14 minutes on the clock.

Sarr and another goal from Maddison ensured that Tottenham had a healthy five-goal cushion going into the break. As good as Tottenham are in attack when at the top of their game, it was all too easy for them at times and looked like a training exercise as they cut through Saints at will.

It was very much the perfect game for them to restore some confidence ahead of Thursday evening's Carabao Cup showdown against Manchester United, with Maddison and Son the main beneficiaries after failing to hit the heights recently. The result also allowed Postecoglou to give his Spurs captain a breather ahead of this week's cup game as Johnson replaced him at the interval.

After a number of disappointing games of late, everything went to plan for Postecoglou and Tottenham.

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