Tottenham 2-3 Southampton: Mohamed Elyounoussi scores late equaliser to rule out Son’s finish

Let us talk about James Ward-Prowse’s right foot. A true thing a thing of beauty. Poetry in motion.

Tottenham were on the way to an undeserved victory here to boost their Champions League hopes before two late wonderful swings of the Southampton captain’s magnificent magic wand changed everything.

Antonio Conte’s men thought they’d stollen three points when Heung-min Son fired home in the 70th minute.

Jan Bednarek scored an own goal in the 18th minute to give Tottenham the lead (above)

But then Ward-Prowse intervened to conjure two crosses of outrageous quality for Armando Broja and Che Adams, respectively, to head home as Southampton claimed a victory their performance was worth on a manic night.

Indeed, Tottenham can have no complaints about the scoreline – Southampton could have been out of sight by the half time.

But having lied twice, Conte will feel sick after this loss.

In contrast, Ralph Hasenhuttl will enjoy his Thursday morning coffee more than usual.

His team were outstanding here, Tottenham simply couldn’t cope at times.

However, Southampton’s Armando Broja (above) equalled the scores five minutes later

Son restored Tottenham’s advantage by scoring a sensational goal in the 70th minute 

Che Adams should have fired the Saints into a fourth minute lead but his close range shot was instantly saved by Hugo Lloris.

Spurs showed some attacking menace early on, Cristian Romero saw his header from Heung-min Son’s free kick disallowed before Sergio Reguilon squandered a guild-edged opportunity put on a plate for him by Harry Kane.

And as poor as they were, somehow Spurs found themselves ahead in the 18th minute, Romain Perraud turning Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s cut-back into his own net.

That should have been the signal for Spurs to stroll home – but instead they lost control.

However, it didn’t take long for Mohamed Elyounoussi to claim an equaliser for Southampton 

Lloris stopped James Ward-Prowe’s effort that was arrowing into the bottom left-hand corner in the 21st minute before Southampton dragged themselves level.

Armando Broja took the credit, firing home Perraud’s 23rd minute pass. But the comedy of errors that led to the equaliser will have had Conte’s blood boiling.

Ben Davies slipped, Davinson Sanchez’s header was tame and Emerson Royal dallied. Not that Southampton were bothered about any of that.

Tottenham’s defensive mistakes compounded, as did the Southampton opportunities.

Lloris was forced into another save in the 29th minute, preventing Stuart Armstrong’s header before Broja fired wide with only the keeper to beat.

Mohammed Salisu then thought he was nodding into an empty net after Lloris made a rare mistake, but his header deflected off an unaware Romero to save Spurs once again.

And then, two minutes before the break, Perraud crashed a 30 yard effort off Tottenham’s cross bar to leave Hassenhuttl’s head in his hands.

It was hardly surprising that boos reverberated the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at half-time. Conte or his players could have no complaints.

Kane headed into the side netting early after the restart as Spurs showed early signs of improvement.

But that wasn’t enough to pacify Conte, who sent on recent signing Rodrigo Bentancur in place of Hojbjerg in the 60th minute for the former Juventus midfielder’s Premier League debut.

And all of a sudden Tottenham’s tempo had noticeably risen a couple of notches.

How Hasenhuttl must have been cursing his team’s tardiness in front of goal. He definitely would have been in the 70th minute when Tottenham took the lead when Son fired how Moura’s low cross.

But the real action was taking place on the bench as Hasenhuttl and his staff were going berserk that Royal’s robust aerial challenge into the back of Broja went unpunished.

Conte, combustible at the best of times, saw red; the Italian had to be ushered away from an escalating situation that was threatening to overspill.

Che Adams (left) then added to Southampton’s delight by scoring the winner for the club

Bergwijn was denied a last-gasp equaliser by VAR as Spurs’ top-four hopes suffer a blow

But that wasn’t the end of the drama. Not by a long chalk, as Southampton completed a stirring comeback to claim all three points.

Mohammed Elyounoussi’s header beyond Lloris was an excellent, but Ward-Prowse’s 80th minute delivery was majestic.

Similarly, Adams’ header two minutes later was just as good, but Ward-Prowse’s cross trumped it.

And to top it all off, Steven Bergwijn saw an injury time equaliser for Spurs ruled out for offside via VAR.

Unadulterated chaos.