SOUTHAMPTON 3

Adams (46), Walcott (77), Ward-Prowse (90+3) pen

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3

Porro (45+1), Kane (65), Perisic (74) Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte let rip into his own players in an extraordinary rant after they missed the chance to move up to third after throwing away a two-goal lead at struggling Southampton.

Spurs looked set to claim a vital win in their quest for Champions League qualification when Ivan Perisic fired home in the 74th-minute after earlier efforts by Pedro Porro and Harry Kane.

Bottom-of-the-table Saints instead mounted a fine fightback with Che Adams and Theo Walcott reducing the deficit before James Ward-Prowse fired home a stoppage-time penalty to extend Tottenham’s winless run on the road to five matches.

Recent defeats at AC Milan and Sheffield United saw Spurs exit the Champions League and FA Cup to make it a 15th consecutive season without silverware and their manager took aim at all parties in an astonishing 10-minute interview following their collapse at St Mary’s.

“If we are going to discuss the penalty, it means we don’t want to see the other situations,” Conte said.

“I think it’s much better to go into the problem because the problem is that, for another time we showed that we are not a team.

“We are 11 players that go onto the pitch. I see selfish players, I see players that don’t want to help each other.

“Why? Because they are used to it here, they are used to it. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress.

“Tottenham’s story is this. Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something, but why? The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stays here. I have seen the managers Tottenham have had.

“I don’t want to see what I have seen today because this is unacceptable and also unacceptable for the fans.”

Southampton remain bottom of the table, but are only two points off safety and Adams’ second-half goal made him the first striker to score for the club in the league in 2023.

Boss Ruben Selles: “I think we put a good performance on the pitch. It was an absolute pleasure to be there.”