Tottenham v Southampton ratings: Kulusevski 9, Kane 7; Lavia 7, Bednarek 5

Antonio Conte impressed by his stars as they thump Southampton

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  TOTTENHAM RATINGS: Hugo Lloris – 6 The Spurs skipper was seldom involved in play, bar one good stop from Aribo. Marshalled his defence well for the majority of the game, ensuring precious little reparatory involvement. Unsighted and blameless for Ward-Prowse’s clinical opener for Saints. Action Images

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  Emerson Royal – 7 Might have done better to prevent Djenepo’s cross in the build-up to Ward-Prowse’s opener, but recovered from that early setback to reassert himself defensively and bomb forward at every opportunity. Assisted Salisu’s poor own-goal. AFP

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  Cristian Romero – 7 The Uruguayan dealt with everything that came his way, cutting a dominant figure in the air and on the deck against a Southampton side made to look very lightweight in attack. Getty

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  Eric Dier – 7 His headline act was the neatly-glanced header which put Spurs in the lead for the first time, but the veteran defender’s main contribution was a stellar organisational shift which kept Saints at arm’s length. EPA

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  Ben Davies 8 – No sign of the ankle issues which had limited his involvement in pre-season. Aggressive throughout, both defensively and in his passing intention, and rose well to the summer arrival of Clement Lenglet. EPA

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  Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 7 A key figure in helping Spurs establish a foothold in the game after their early setback. Showcased his fine range of passing and was constantly one step ahead of his visiting counterparts. EPA

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  Rodrigo Bentancur – 8 A class act. Grew in presence as the game wore on and was a major factor in Spurs dominating the midfield battle. Rare to see a Saints player get anywhere near him. Booked and duly substituted as a precaution. Getty

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  Ryan Sessegnon – 8 Made a superb run to bullet home Spurs’ leveller with a close-range header, had another goal disallowed for offside and never stopped sprinting. Substituted midway through the second period for safety reasons, after picking up a first-half booking. Getty

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  Dejan Kulusevski – 9 Carried on his fine form since arriving in January, providing a constant menace for Saints and highlighting his display with an unplayable assist for Sessegnon’s equaliser, then a classy second-half finish to round-off the scoring. EPA

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  Harry Kane – 7 After a sharp pre-season, Kane was unexpectedly quiet. For once, the headlines went to those around him and his frustration was on show late in the first period when he berated Son for spurning a chance to tee up a simple third. Getty

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  Son Heung-min – 7 Shot straight at Bazunu during a rusty start, but recovered quickly by slinging in a brilliant cross for Dier’s header. Not the outstanding display of his Spurs career to date, but played his part in an incisive collective performance. EPA

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  SUBS: Ivan Perisic (Ryan Sessegnon, 66) – 7 Didn’t take long to show his class. Sharp, lively and involved – looks a very astute summer signing. AFP

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  Lucas Moura (Dejan Kulusevski, 86) Virtually no time at all to have an impact. EPA

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  Yves Bissouma (Rodrigo Bentancur, 86) A fleeting debut, but still found time to foul Lavia and pick up a booking. EPA

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  Clement Lenglet (Ben Davies, 86) Came on for his competitive Spurs bow, having watched Davies lay down a gauntlet. EPA

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  Matt Doherty (Emerson Royal, 87) Uninvolved in his brief cameo, with the outcome already long-assured. PA

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  SOUTHAMPTON RATINGS: Gavin Bazunu – 6 Got the nod for his debut ahead of Alex McCarthy after an impressive pre-season campaign. Blameless for Spurs’ goals, all scored from close-range, and did well to recover mentally and produce sharp stops from Kane and Son. EPA

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  Kyle Walker-Peters – 6 Rendered helpless for Sessegnon’s equaliser by Kulusevski’s cross. Took a clattering from Sessegnon shortly after the goal and was finding his way back into the game when Dier scored. Generally tidy and energetic, but will rue losing his men for both first-half goals. Getty

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  Yan Valery – 5 Up and down, but mainly the latter. Targeted by Spurs’ press and was only spared a costly concession of possession when Son subsequently blazed off-target. Hooked at half-time as Hasenhuttl sought to find a way back into the match. Getty

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  Jan Bednarek – 5 Looked nervy early on, making life tricky for Bazunu with one particularly errant pass, and was found wanting for both position and reaction when Dier exploited lax marking to glance in Spurs’ second. An afternoon to forget. PA

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  Mohammed Salisu – 5 Endured a nightmarish moment on the hour mark to all-but seal the points for the hosts, as he haphazardly turned Royal’s cross past Bazunu. The low-point in a beleaguered 90 minutes. AP

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  Moussa Djenepo – 5 Did well to fashion Ward-Prowse’s early volley to break the deadlock, but looked uncomfortable all afternoon in a defensive capacity. Left chasing shadows by Kulusevski at times. Getty

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  Romeo Lavia –7 Easily Saints’ stand-out player on his Premier League debut. The teenager was unflappable throughout, showing elite mentality, innate positional sense and a brilliant passing repertoire. Very promising. PA

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  James Ward-Prowse – 6 Deployed in a more advanced role in Hasenhuttl’s new formation and the early signs were promising. Capped a lively all-round display with a brilliantly-taken opener for the visitors, but found himself and his fellow midfielders overrun thereafter. AP

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  Oriol Romeu – 5 The Spaniard was found wanting for pace on more than one occasion as Spurs developed their dominance and upped the tempo after conceding. Looked more comfortable after the break when playing a deeper role, but was still replaced with 15 minutes to go. Reuters

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  Joe Aribo – 6 Though a midfielder by trade, battled gamely in a forward position, constantly finding clever pockets of space and posing questions for the home defence. His only real chance in front of goal was thwarted by Lloris in the second half. PA

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  Adam Armstrong – 5 A willing runner throughout the first period, but was unable to offer a meaningful focal point as Saints failed to build on an early advantage. Substituted at half-time. EPA

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  SUBS: Jack Stephens (Yan Valery, half-time) – 5 Came on at the break but was unable to alter the flow of the game, with Saints’ defence creaking after Salisu’s killer own-goal. PA

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  Stuart Armstrong (Adam Armstrong, half-time) – 6 Looked lively and put himself about in an advanced role, but was unable to provide the attacking sharpness required. Getty

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  Romain Perraud (Moussa Djenepo, 72) Had 20 minutes but, despite willing running and one off-target shot, the game was already decided. Ibrahima Diallo (Oriol Romeu, 75) Had no say in the outcome of the game and saw a late effort blocked. PA

Antonio Conte described Tottenham's dominant 4-1 win against Southampton as the "perfect start" to their Premier League season.

Conte took over as manager last November and transformed the London club's form to seal a top-four finish.

Some impressive business in the transfer market has raised expectations ahead of the new campaign and Tottenham responded with a vibrant performance.

Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier and Dejan Kulusevski were all on target as Tottenham responded in emphatic style after James Ward-Prowse handed Southampton an early lead against the run of play.

In the end it could have been a much bigger margin of victory but Conte was clearly more than satisfied with the intensity of his side's play.

"It was a perfect start for us, despite going behind," Conte told the BBC. "We conceded a goal but after this we continued to play and we continued to believe in what we are working on in the training sessions.

"I liked the game a lot for the result but especially the way in which the result was achieved - creating many chances to score, good possession, good high and medium pressure and we were good when we lost the ball and the intensity to try and get it back. I saw a lot of positive things."

Player ratings from the match can be seen in the gallery above. To see the next rating, just swipe.