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Antonio Conte hits out after Tottenham let victory slip from their grasp

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte saw his side held at Southampton (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Wire)
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte saw his side held at Southampton (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Wire)

Antonio Conte’s future as Tottenham coach was again in the spotlight after his side surrendered a 3-1 lead to draw at struggling Southampton and miss the chance to go third.

Spurs looked set to move above Manchester United in the race for the Champions League spots as goals from Pedro Porro, Harry Kane and Ivan Perisic left them in control heading into the final stages at St Mary’s.

But Southampton, who had earlier levelled through Che Adams, pulled a goal back through Theo Walcott in the 77th minute before James Ward-Prowse salvaged a dramatic 3-3 draw with a last-minute penalty.

The result means Spurs have now won just one of their last five competitive matches – against Nottingham Forest last weekend – and the under-pressure Conte hit out at both his players and the club in an astonishing 10-minute rant after the game.

For Southampton, they remain bottom but are now only a point behind Bournemouth after the Cherries crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey and Emiliano Buendia secured a third win in four games for Unai Emery’s men, who will now be looking to break into the top 10 after all-but ending their relegation concerns.

During the game, both sets of fans warmly greeted David Brooks onto the Villa Park pitch in the 79th minute as the Bournemouth substitute made his first appearance since being diagnosed with cancer in October 2021.

Leeds claimed just their second away win of the season to boost their own survival hopes with a 4-2 victory over Wolves.

Jack Harrison smashed in from close range to give Leeds a half-time lead and Luke Ayling doubled their advantage shortly after the break before Rasmus Kristensen made it 3-0.

Wolves rallied through goals from Jonny and Matheus Cunha but their hopes of salvaging something from the match were hit when the former was sent off for a late challenge on Ayling.

Leeds then capped a rare away triumph and moved two points clear of the drop zone when Rodrigo coolly finished over Jose Sa, before unused Wolves substitute Matheus Nunes was also shown a late red card.

Ellis Simms rescued a point for Everton at Chelsea, with Sean Dyche’s side twice coming from behind to earn a valuable 2-2 draw.

Joao Felix put the Blues in front with a low shot just after half-time but the Toffees equalised when Abdoulaye Doucoure’s header just crossed the line before Kai Havertz cleared.

Chelsea, chasing a fourth successive win, restored their lead soon after when Havertz sent Jordan Pickford the wrong way from the penalty spot after James Tarkowski had brought down Reece James.

But there was a twist in the tale as 22-year-old Simms levelled in the 89th minute with his first goal for the club, helping Everton make it three games unbeaten and move two points clear of the bottom three.

Leicester ended a run of five successive defeats in league and cup as they came from a goal down to draw 1-1 with in-form Brentford.

The Foxes must have feared the worst when when Brentford midfielder Mathias Jensen finished emphatically for his fourth goal in five matches.

However, Leicester drew level in the second half when Harvey Barnes latched onto James Maddison’s through-ball and dinked his shot over David Raya.

Brentford were reduced to 10 men late on when substitute Shandon Baptiste saw red for his challenge on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.