Skipper Sam Morsy netted a 95th-minute equaliser as Town and Southampton drew 1-1 at St Mary’s. Tyler Dibling’s fifth-minute goal gave the Saints a 1-0 half-time lead against the overall run of play and both sides had chances before Morsy slammed home his first Premier League goal to secure what could prove to be a vital away point.
Town made one enforced change with Jens Cajuste coming in for his full league debut for Kalvin Phillips, absent due to a minor thigh problem.
Cajuste joined Morsy in the centre of midfield with Jack Taylor coming onto the bench with the Blues’ 20 otherwise unchanged.
Southampton made four changes from last week’s 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester United with contract rebel Kyle Walker-Peters, Chelsea loanee Lesley Ugochukwu and Ben Brereton-Diaz all dropping to the bench, and suspended skipper Jack Stephens missing out.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Charlie Taylor, Adam Lallana and ex-Town loanee Ryan Fraser came into the team.
Flynn Downes, the Blues’ youngest-ever captain, skippered the Saints for the first time in Stephens’s absence following his red card last week. Former Blues loan keeper Alex McCarthy was on the bench.
Town started on the front foot taking the game to the home side and might well have gone in front in the second minute.
Wes Burns wafted a cross from the right towards the far post where Sammie Szmodics shot wide. It may have been a tight angle but the former Blackburn man will feel he probably should have done better.
From the goal-kick, Saints keeper Aaron Ramsdale played it out to Downes on the edge of the area, where the former Blues midfielder was out-battled by Cajuste, whose shot was saved by Ramsdale. However, referee Sam Allison had, somewhat harshly, awarded a free-kick against the Sweden international.
Despite Town having started the brighter, the home side took the lead in the fifth minute.
Axel Tuanzebe tried to play out from the back from inside his own area to the right having broken up a Southampton attack but found a Saints player. The ball was moved inside and Lallana played a pass in between Jacob Greaves and Leif Davis for 18-year-old Dibling, who confidently beat Aro Muric to claim his first Premier League goal.
Having gone behind to a poor goal from their perspective, the Blues set about getting back on terms, quickly restoring their early superiority.
On 12, Burns crossed from the right left-footed to Szmodics, who headed straight at Ramsdale and with the linesman’s flag subsequently raised.
Four minutes later, Omari Hutchinson, again playing in the centre of the three behind striker Liam Delap, sent a dangerous ball across from the right after a corner had been played to him at the corner of the box and the ball seemed to flash past both Szmodics and Greaves at the far post.
Aside from the goal, it had been all Town. On 20, Szmodics and Davis were both forced away from goal as they chased a pass looping to the left of the area.
From the resultant corner, the ball was half-cleared to Cajuste, who smashed a shot deep into the Southampton fans behind the goal.
Following the strike, Ramsdale was treated for what looked to be a tactical injury in order to upset Town’s momentum.
The break seemed to have its apparently intended effect with the Saints under less pressure and having some possession in the Town half.
On 25 Taylor was booked for a foul on Burns as the Wales international sought to bring the ball out on the right.
Two minutes later, Saints almost doubled their lead. Harwood-Bellis appeared to go through the back of Delap to win the ball on halfway before Dibling threaded a ball for Cameron Archer to chase down the middle.
Greaves and Muric did superbly to force the former Aston Villa man wide to the left and he eventually stroked the ball against the post, the Town keeper pouncing on it. VAR might have had something to say about it had it gone in given the challenge on Delap.
But Town restored their dominance as half-time approached and on 43 Burns hit a low cross-shot which was diverted out for a corner. From Davis’s very deep flag-kick, Greaves headed back across goal but Ramsdale plucked it out of the air.
Moments later, a Delap strike was blocked, then, seconds before the scheduled end of the half ahead of two additional minutes, Davis was found at the far post but his effort from a tight angle was forced out for the first of three corners.
From the second, the ball was again played short to Hutchinson at the corner of the box, the former Chelsea man cut in and hit a shot which was destined for the top corner until Ramsdale tipped it over.
That was the last action of a half during which the Blues had been well on top for the most part but without scoring.
Town had started strongly and didn’t allow Southampton’s very preventable goal to upset their rhythm.
The Blues had had a number of chances across the half, while Archer spurned a golden opportunity out of almost nothing to increase the home side’s lead.
Southampton went close to a second again four minutes after the restart. Archer held off Dara O’Shea as they battled chasing a pass into the area and got ahead of the Irish international. Fortunately for the Blues, Muric had advanced and stood his ground to block and Greaves cleared the danger.
Lallana was yellow-carded for a trip on Delap, who had been fouled more than anyone else throughout the game, in the 52nd minute before the Blues created their first chance of the half.
Hutchinson played in Szmodics on the right of the box close to the Town support but the summer signing shot into the side-netting. Soon after, O’Shea was booked for a foul on Archer.
Southampton again will have felt they should have been 2-0 in front in the 55th minute when Mateus Fernandes was found in space on the left of the box but the Portuguese U21 international put his low pass just behind Archer, spurning a very good opening.
On 59, the Saints made a triple change, replacing Lallana, Archer and Fraser with Ugochukwu, Stewart and Brereton-Diaz. Within a minute, Hutchinson was booked for a foul on Stewart.
Town made their first changes on 62, Cajuste and Szmodics making way for Taylor and Jack Clarke.
Taylor was quickly into the action, clattering into Fernandes, although replays suggested the sub had won the ball. The incident led to a brief dust-up between the teams and eventually after order was restored, Delap and Downes were yellow-carded.
Southampton had shaded the second half with Szmodics’s early opportunity Town’s only chance. On 71, O’Shea blocked a powerful Downes shot.
A minute later, Town introduced Conor Chaplin and George Hirst, both former Portsmouth players, for Burns and Delap, Hutchinson moving to the wide right role.
On 77, Tuanzebe did well to clear a dangerous ball from the right away ahead of Brereton-Diaz with the Saints looking the more likely scorers of the game’s second goal.
Two minutes later, Chaplin played a clever ball in behind for Hutchinson but Ramsdale was off his line quickly to clear. Within a minute, Brereton-Diaz blazed over with a first-time effort.
As the game moved into its final 10 minutes, Town created a decent opportunity. After Davis had opted not to shoot right-footed from the edge of the box, the ball was played wide to Hutchinson on the right and his clipped cross was too long.
The ball ended up back with the England U21 call-up and he sent in another cross but Hirst’s flicked header flew wide.
Town swapped Tuanzebe for Ben Johnson and Saints replaced goalscorer Dibling for Adam Armstrong with eight minutes left on the clock.
On 87, Muric tipped over Harwood-Bellis’s hook goalwards after the Blues had been unable to clear a set piece.
As the match moved into seven additional minutes, Southampton swapped Fernandes for Joe Aribo.
In the 94th minute, a Morsy shot was blocked after a free-kick was played to the skipper on the edge of the box.
Then moments later, Clarke crossed from the left and Hirst’s header forced Ramsdale to tip over.
And from the resultant corner, the Blues levelled. Davis’s flag-kick was cleared to the edge of the area from where Morsy took a touch before smashing a shot which deflected off Aribo and the inside of the post before finding the net to send the fans away to the right wild.
The Blues went looking for a winner in the remaining minutes as the Town support reminded their Saints counterparts that Morsy’s goal wasn’t the first their side had conceded to McKenna’s men in recent memory and at the whistle it was the Blues’ fans making all the noise.
Despite the ultimately frantic manner in which it was claimed in the dying moments, it was certainly a deserved point.
The half-time scoreline had been harsh on the Blues and while Southampton will feel they had been the better side in the second half, Town had created a number of opportunities with Ramsdale the busier keeper.
A third successive point, their second on the road on the bounce, sees the Blues move up a place to 16th with the still-winless Saints climbing a place to 19th with Russell Martin still to win a game against Town as a manager.
The Blues are next in action at home to Champions League qualifiers Aston Villa a week tomorrow.
Southampton: Ramsdale, Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Fernandes (Aribo 91), Downes, Taylor, Dibling (Armstrong 88), Lallana (Ugochukwu 59), Fraser (Brereton-Diaz 59), Archer (Stewart 59). Unused: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Wood, Cornet.
Town: Muric, Tuanzebe (Johnson 88), O’Shea, Greaves, Davis, Morsy (c), Cajuste (Taylor 62), Burns (Chaplin 73), Hutchinson, Szmodics (J Clarke 62), Delap (Hirst 73). Unused: Walton, Townsend, Luongo, Ogbene. Referee: Sam Allison (Wiltshire). VAR: Jarred Gillett (Australia). Att: 31,117.