Tottenham 2-3 Southampton: Adams downs sorry Spurs as Conte suffers first home league defeat

Tottenham failed to close the gap on the Premier League's top four to one point as they fell to a dramatic 3-2 loss against Southampton on Wednesday, a late VAR check robbing Spurs of a draw.

Antonio Conte's side initially led at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium thanks to a first-half Jan Bednarek own goal, but Armando Broja equalised just five minutes later.

Spurs thought they had found the winning goal with 20 minutes remaining through Son Heung-min, though Mohamed Elyounoussi headed past Hugo Lloris to draw level again.

Che Adams delivered the crucial blow in the latter stages, with Steven Bergwijn's stoppage-time header subsequently ruled out, leaving Spurs four points behind the fourth-placed West Ham and inflicting Conte's first home league loss as Spurs boss.

Earlier, Adams squandered a close-range chance in the opening stages, while Cristian Romero saw his header ruled out for offside from Son's free-kick.

A breakthrough for Spurs came soon after when Bednarek turned into his own net following Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's low delivery.

Southampton responded swiftly as Broja finished past Hugo Lloris after Romain Perraud had profited from Ben Davies' slip to cross.

Harry Kane somehow headed wide from point-blank range after the break following Sergio Reguilon's cross, but Spurs regained the lead when Son poked Lucas Moura's pass into the bottom-right corner.

Broja blasted over as he looked to level things up once more, though Elyounoussi managed to do so moments later as he headed in James Ward-Prowse's delivery.

Adams then atoned for his earlier miss as he nodded past Lloris from another excellent Ward-Prowse cross before Bergwijn saw his late header chalked off for offside as Spurs thought they had salvaged a late point.

What does it mean? Home comforts go missing for Conte

Spurs may have expected a comfortable ride after taking the lead against Southampton, who had lost on their last five league visits to White Hart Lane and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Conte was also unbeaten in his opening five home league games as Spurs boss – winning 20 of his last 21 such fixtures as a manager across spells with Inter and his current club – but Ralph Hasenhuttl's side rallied brilliantly to earn an impressive comeback victory.

Spurs now sit four points behind fourth-placed West Ham, who have played three more games, while the Saints move up to 10th.

Ward-Prowse wizardry

Ward-Prowse has repeatedly earned praise for his set-pieces throughout this campaign, but it was two instances of open-play brilliance that guided Southampton to victory.

The Saints captain created a game-high five chances, including his two assists for the visitors' late heroics, in what was a scintillating midfield display.

Kane muted by Saints

Kane had scored five times in his last three top-flight home games against Southampton and had been directly involved in 17 goals in 12 starts against the Saints.

However, the England star failed to fire against Hasenhuttl's men, enduring a frustrating outing that was characterised by an unusual miss from the talisman at the back post in the second half.

Key Opta facts

- Having equalised in the 79th minute, this was the latest Southampton had been behind in a Premier League match which they would go on to win since March 2016 against Liverpool (equalised in 83rd minute).

- Since the start of the 2019-20 season, Jan Bednarek has scored more Premier League own goals than any other player (three), putting through his own net once in each of the last three league campaigns.

- Tottenham suffered their first Premier League home defeat under Antonio Conte, in their sixth match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium under the Italian (W4 D1). Indeed, this was Conte's first home league defeat in 23 matches across his time at Inter and Spurs (W20 D2) since a 1-2 defeat with Inter to Milan in October 2020.

- Tottenham have benefitted from three opposition own goals in the Premier League this season, more than any other side.

- Southampton's James Ward-Prowse assisted two goals in a single Premier League match for only the second time in his 290 appearances in the competition, and first since December 2014 against Crystal Palace.

What's next?

Tottenham host Wolves on Sunday, while Southampton travel to Manchester United the day before.