Southampton striker Shane Long has now gone 34 games without a goal for club or country.
The Ireland forward’s last goal came for Southampton in a 4-0 win over Sunderland on February 11 and it’s been curtains ever since for Long.
The 30-year-old received a rare start for the Saints on Tuesday in the absence of the suspended Charlie Austin, but his goal drought continued as Mauricio Pellegrino’s side were thumped 5-2 by Tottenham at Wembley Stadium.
By comparison, over the same period, Tottenham striker Harry Kane has found the net 50 times.
Harry Kane has scored 50 goals for club and country since Shane Long last scored.
— Richard Jolly 🇺🇦 (@RichJolly) December 26, 2017
"Shane Long hasn't scored in 33 games which is…Long" sniggered Comedian and Wordsmith Thierry Henry on Sky this morning.
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) December 26, 2017
The Tipperary native’s best chance on Saint Stephen’s Day came at the start of the second-half when he snuck in behind the Spurs defence after a wayward pass from Eric Dier.
Long beat centre-back Davinson Sanchez to the ball before dribbling to the edge of the box where he slipped upon shooting before firing the ball into his own foot.
The 30-year-old had another good chance to break his drought later in the half when Manolo Gabbiadini squared a ball across the face of goal only for Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen to clear the ball away from the goalmouth to deny Long a certain tap in.
The statistics make for grim reading for Long. Since his goal against the Black Cats, he’s had 28 shots for Southampton with only eight shots on target in 30 games.
For Ireland, he’s scored just one goal from 13 shots in nine matches from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, with a further six shots blocked.
Just over one third (36%) of his shots have been on target this season, down from 43% from last season.
At some stage, his drought will have to end, but it will be hard for Long to see consistent gametime with the presence of Austin and Gabbiadini.
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