by Tottenham missed a chance to move up to third in the Premier League after James Ward-Prowse’s injury-time penalty handed Southampton a dramatic 3-3 draw.
Spurs appeared poised to take all three points at St Mary’s after first strikes from Pedro Porro and Ivan Perisic were wedged in by Harry Kane’s 23rd goal of the season.
Ruben Selles, bottom of the table, had scored just two goals in their last five league games but showed the same struggle in which they recently picked up points against Chelsea and Manchester United to bounce back from 3-1 down and boost their hopes of survival.
Ward-Prowse’s late penalty after Pape Sarr fouled Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the area added to second-half efforts by Che Adams and Theo Walcott to earn Saints a share of the spoils.
Tottenham were unchanged from their win over Nottingham Forest, giving Richarlison another chance, but he left the pitch after five minutes with an injury to see his unlucky season take another turn for the worse.
The Saints were forced to make their own substitution shortly after, Armel Bella-Kotchap had to be substituted with a right arm injury and the hosts should have been in the lead by then.
Adams fired wide in the third minute from close range after Ward-Prowse’s worn-out attempt after Stuart Armstrong saw a low hit blocked by Clement Lenglet.
After a stop-start opening at St Mary’s, the competition settled down with Southampton dominating possession, but the visitors continued to create better opportunities and Porro snipped out two good opens.
It wasn’t long before the injury curse returned as Jan Bednarek suffered a rib problem after half an hour.
Bednarek continued at first before being substituted and Ben Davies becoming the fourth substitute of the first half when he injured his right leg in the 38th minute.
While Saints’ new centre-back pairing of Mohammed Salisu and Maitland-Niles adjusted to one another, Spurs threw themselves to break the deadlock in first-half added time.
Son Heung-min spotted Porro in space on the right and fitted the ball down the January recruit’s run, who made a touch and thundered a try off the bar to open his account for Tottenham.
Adams needed 43 seconds to equalize for Southampton after half-time and become the first Southampton forward to score in the Premier League that year.
Romeo Lavia separated Lenglet and Perisic with a perfectly weighted ball from Walcott, who struck Adams for his 10th goal of the season in all competitions.
Minutes later, Ward-Prowse hit the visitors’ net goal with a free-kick before Kane signaled his intention by firing over the goal with a throw after carrying the ball out of his own half.
Southampton ignored the warning and after 65 minutes Kane scored for the seventh time at St Mary’s.
Substitute Dejan Kulusevski delivered a ball to the back post, where Kane headed in for his 23rd goal of the season.
When Perisic opened his account for Spurs in his 36th game with a half-volley over Gavin Bazunu in the 74th minute, the points seemed to be bagged for the guests.
But Selles’ side had other ideas and Walcott came back from Sekou Mara’s knockdown three minutes later to set up a dramatic final.
Former Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster thwarted Mara from close range shortly after, but the hosts were unstoppable.
Tottenham substitute Sarr caught Maitland-Niles in the box from a corner and Ward-Prowse, saving his last penalty against Leicester, made no mistake this time and fired in the corner to give Southampton a valuable point.
