Southampton 3-3 Tottenham: Saints come from behind to earn point

A late James Ward-Prowse penalty earned Southampton a deserved point in a thrilling encounter as they came from behind against Tottenham at St Mary’s.

Pedro Porro broke the deadlock, hammering a shot into the roof of the net just before half time.

Che Adams levelled 47 seconds into the second half, but Saints were staring at defeat with 15 minutes to go thanks to Harry Kane’s header before a fine Ivan Perisic effort.

But Theo Walcott inspired Southampton’s comeback with a slotted finish from Sekou Mara’s header and Ward-Prowse completed it from the spot to secure a vital point.

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Saints persevere to earn deserved point

A point does nothing to improve Southampton’s position in the table as they remain rooted to the bottom, but it does highlight the improvements made under manager Ruben Selles.

They have managed just one win so far under the Spanish coach – against fellow strugglers Leicester in March – but this spirited second-half performance showed promising signs as they face a tough battle to stay in the Premier League.

Saints had to substitute both their central defenders inside 33 minutes with Mohammed Salisu replacing Bella-Kotchap and Ainsley Maitland-Niles returning to the fold after two weeks on the sidelines after Bednarek was taken to hospital with a suspected rib injury.

But the home side were rejuvenated in the second half with Adams’ early goal putting Spurs on the back foot, and they were unlucky to concede the second goal to a quality Kane header.

Even trailing by two goals it was Southampton who had the chances as Walcott gave the St Mary’s crowd hope, before Mara went close to an equaliser but was denied by Spurs keeper Fraser Forster.

Southampton were eventually rewarded for their tenacity when Pape Sarr made contact with Maitland-Niles in the box and Ward-Prowse drove a powerful penalty into the back of the net.

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Spurs struggle in face of spirited Saints

With Manchester United in FA Cup action on Sunday, victory would have seen Spurs move one point above Erik ten Hag’s side in the battle for Champions League football.

In a week when manager Antonio Conte said he does not expect to leave the club before his contract expires at the end of the season, Spurs ended a four-match losing streak away from home but threw away a two-goal cushion to bottom-of-the-league opposition.

Richarlison, who criticised Conte after Spurs’ Champions League exit for his lack of game time, was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski after just five minutes and looked upset as he left the pitch having struggled with injuries all season.

Clear-cut chances were rare as neither side managed a shot on target in the opening period until Porro broke the deadlock with his first goal since joining Spurs in January.

But Spurs were retreating for much of the second half, Kane’s goal came against the run of play and Perisic’s shot from range bouncing to catch keeper Gavin Bazunu off guard.

As has often been the case this season, Spurs led despite an unconvincing performance and were reliant on moments of quality from talisman Kane, who has now registered 21 goals this season.

Against a team who have failed to score more than once in a home match since August, Spurs seemed to run out of ideas and allowed Southampton to capitalise.

• Reaction to Spurs’ draw at Southampton plus Saturday’s other Premier League action
• Everything Southampton all in one place
• Stay up to date with everything Spurs

Player of the match

AlcarazCarlos Alcaraz

with an average of 6.75

• SouthamptonSouthamptonSouthampton
• TottenhamTottenham HotspurTottenham Hotspur

Southampton

Avg

1. Squad number26Player nameAlcaraz

   Average rating

   6.75
2. Squad number10Player nameAdams

   Average rating

   6.74
3. Squad number20Player nameSulemana

   Average rating

   6.72
4. Squad number32Player nameWalcott

   Average rating

   6.70
5. Squad number17Player nameS Armstrong

   Average rating

   6.66
6. Squad number18Player nameMara

   Average rating

   6.61
7. Squad number3Player nameMaitland-Niles

   Average rating

   6.58
8. Squad number45Player nameLavia

   Average rating

   6.27
9. Squad number22Player nameSalisu

   Average rating

   6.25
10. Squad number2Player nameWalker-Peters

    Average rating

    6.24
11. Squad number15Player namePerraud

    Average rating

    6.09
12. Squad number31Player nameBazunu

    Average rating

    6.03
13. Squad number35Player nameBednarek

    Average rating

    6.03
14. Squad number24Player nameElyounoussi

    Average rating

    5.98
15. Squad number37Player nameBella-Kotchap

    Average rating

    5.91
16. Squad number8Player nameWard-Prowse

    Average rating

    5.91

Tottenham Hotspur

Avg

1. Squad number10Player nameKane

   Average rating

   6.16
2. Squad number23Player namePorro

   Average rating

   5.89
3. Squad number7Player nameSon Heung-min

   Average rating

   5.80
4. Squad number21Player nameKulusevski

   Average rating

   5.57
5. Squad number20Player nameForster

   Average rating

   5.45
6. Squad number4Player nameSkipp

   Average rating

   5.37
7. Squad number14Player namePerisic

   Average rating

   5.32
8. Squad number17Player nameRomero

   Average rating

   5.31
9. Squad number5Player nameHøjbjerg

   Average rating

   5.28
10. Squad number33Player nameDavies

    Average rating

    5.08
11. Squad number15Player nameDier

    Average rating

    4.91
12. Squad number34Player nameLenglet

    Average rating

    4.91
13. Squad number9Player nameRicharlison

    Average rating

    4.41
14. Squad number12Player nameEmerson Royal

    Average rating

    3.85
15. Squad number29Player nameSarr

    Average rating

    3.51

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