Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to move six points clear of North London rivals Arsenal courtesy of a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Southampton at White Hart Lane this afternoon.

Mauricio Pochettino's side took the lead against his former club, but two goals from Steven Davis saw the visitors turn the game around and pick up a win that sees them leapfrog West Ham United into sixth in the table.

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The hosts were playing in their first match since seeing their title hopes ended on Monday night, but they showed no signs of a hangover in the early stages and almost took the lead after just five minutes when Fraser Forster produced a smart stop to keep out Christian Eriksen.

Southampton struggled to get going in the opening 10 minutes, but they came close to breaking the deadlock against the run of play when Dusan Tadic was played in down the left channel, only to put too much on his low ball across goal when a better pass would have left Davis with a simple tap-in.

That missed opportunity looked like being costly when Spurs took the lead just five minutes later, with Son Heung-Min playing a one-two with Erik Lamela before rounding Forster and keeping his composure to dribble inside and apply the finish into an empty net.

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Spurs were soon back on the hunt for a second goal, with Eriksen's tame effort drawing a routine stop from Forster before Harry Kane fired a low strike a couple of yards past the post from outside the area.

Southampton were back level shortly after the half-hour mark, though, as Tadic was allowed to squeeze a pass into the box for Davis, who steered a first-time finish past Hugo Lloris from close range, with the Tottenham keeper unable to prevent it from creeping over the line despite getting a hand to the ball.

The home side had the chance to regain their advantage right on the stroke of half time when Kane stole the ball from Jose Fonte before cutting inside, but he couldn't beat Forster from a tight angle.

That was a rare defensive lapse from the visitors, however, and Spurs found it even tougher to break the Saints down in the second half as the home fans' frustrations grew.

Southampton surrendered the vast majority of the ball after the interval, but it was Ronald Koeman's side who came closest to scoring in the opening stages of the second half when Shane Long steered a header wide of the target from a good position.

Spurs were forced to rely on a set piece for their first opening of the second half, and it arrived past the hour mark when Jan Vertonghen planted a header towards the top corner that Virgil van Dijk did well to nod over his own crossbar.

It was Southampton who took the lead with just under 20 minutes remaining, though, as Davis exchanged passes with Tadic before sneaking a tame effort into the bottom corner through a crowd of bodies.

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Spurs knew that defeat would take the race for second place to the final day of the season, but they struggled to conjure up any sort of response against a resolute Southampton side, with Lamela's poor free kick providing them with a rare shot on goal.

Instead it was the visitors who posed the main threat on the counter-attack, with Long volleying one effort off target after latching on to Graziano Pelle's flick forward.

James Ward-Prowse also came close in the closing stages, and Southampton's failure to add a third goal almost proved costly when the ball broke to Nacer Chadli in the final minute of stoppage time, only for Forster to deny the Tottenham sub.

Southampton did hold on, though, to record consecutive league away wins for the first time since February 2015 and also equal their best-ever points tally for a Premier League season, moving onto 60 for the second campaign in a row.

Spurs, meanwhile, remain just three points above Arsenal, with the Gunners now boasting a game in hand over their North London rivals.