Report: Saints mount comeback for the ages to win at Leicester

The visitors found themselves 2-0 down inside 13 minutes and three down at half time, only to mount a stunning revival that included three goals in the final eight minutes of a game that will never be forgotten by those who made the long journey to the East Midlands.

Saints should have scored first, which might have put a very different complexion on the night had Cameron Archer not skied a close-range chance in the opening 30 seconds on his return to the starting line-up.

Instead the Foxes struck twice in quick succession, as Daniel Peretz was unable to keep out Divine Mukasa’s low drive before Patson Daka seized on a loose backpass from Tom Fellows and rounded Peretz to leave Saints wondering how things had gone so wrong so quickly.

A third goal duly followed on the half-hour, as Abdul Fatawu rifled in a shot from an improbable angle, leaving Saints in disarray.

Tonda Eckert responded with a triple change at half time, including the introduction of Ross Stewart, whose neat finish reduced the deficit before captain Jack Stephens smashed a half-volley into the roof of the net.

Substitute Ryan Manning headed home Leo Scienza’s left-wing corner with four minutes left of normal time, before Shea Charles produced a moment to savour to win the game in the last of six added minutes, curling a left-footed shot into the far corner of the net.

Eckert had promised changes to his starting line-up but ultimately settled for just the one, as Archer was recalled up front to make his first start in five matches, with Stewart dropping to the bench alongside Saturday’s debut hero Cyle Larin.

After Larin scored with his first touch of the game, Archer should have followed suit with a huge chance inside the opening 30 seconds at the King Power Stadium.

When Finn Azaz escaped down the right flank, his cross flicked off a Leicester head and dropped invitingly for Scienza to drill a low volley across goal that seemingly just needed a touch from Archer inside the six-yard box, but the striker could not keep the ball down and saw it balloon off his foot and over the bar from close range.

Cameron Archer had a big early chance to open the scoring on his return to the starting line-up

It was an early reprieve for Leicester, who did not take long to take advantage of the let off. After Mukasa set up Daka to shoot over the bar from the edge of the box, the roles were reversed when Daka invited Mukasa to try his luck from 20 yards, and the Manchester City loanee did not make the same mistake, drilling a fierce low shot past Peretz, who did get his left hand to the ball but could not keep it out.

Things went from bad to worse for Saints from their own first corner of the game, as Leicester countered at speed.

The pacey Fellows was deliberately left in a defensive position to cover such a scenario, but the winger undersold his backpass to Peretz and Daka read it early, racing through to round the keeper and virtually walk the ball into the net.

Shellshocked to be 2-0 down inside 13 minutes, Saints searched for a platform to build from when Welington delivered a free-kick met by a thumping downward header from Taylor Harwood-Bellis that forced veteran keeper Asmir Begović into an excellent stooping save.

But just as the visitors were hoping to find a foothold, Fatawu added Leicester’s third with an emphatic finish high into the near corner of the net when he was afforded too much space to advance into the box by the retreating Welington.

The Foxes might even have added a fourth in a nightmare first half for Saints, who came into the game with three wins out of four, keeping clean sheets in all three of those, but that solidity was nowhere to be seen as Stephy Mavididi squared up James Bree and whipped a low curling shot inches wide of Peretz’s far post.

By that point a mistimed challenge from Caspar Jander had been punished by a yellow card, with Leicester’s players feeling the German midfielder got off lightly.

Archer’s early miss felt like a lifetime ago as the first 45 drew to a close, but the striker bookended the half with another chance in the closing stages, sprinting away from last man Caleb Okoli with an eye-catching turn of speed, but equally impressive was the defender’s recovery challenge to block his left-footed shot, which did not look cleanly struck in any case.

Eckert’s response was to make a trio of half-time changes, with Jander, Fellows and Archer all taken off as Charles, Kuryu Matsuki and Stewart were introduced in the hope of breathing some life into a strangely off-colour Saints display.

It definitely had a positive impact, with Stewart offering a natural focal point and a target to hit in the air, as the substitute soon headed wide from a James Bree cross, albeit from an offside position.

Sure enough it was from another cross from the left, this time from Scienza, that Saints did give themselves a lifeline, as Stewart got ahead of his man and applied a cute touch with his right foot to steer the ball into the far corner.

Ross Stewart starts Saints' stunning comeback with a fine finish from Leo Scienza's cross

Suddenly Saints were transformed. A neat move down the left needed a better final ball from Welington, before Azaz scuffed a shot straight at Begović from a position of promise.

Having finally built some momentum in the contest, Saints nearly shot themselves in the foot when a long ball forward was not dealt with by Harwood-Bellis or Stephens, inviting Daka to go eye to eye with Peretz, but the keeper stretched out a right hand to keep Saints’ slim hopes of a comeback just about alive.

A break in play whilst Stewart received treatment did not halt the visitors’ progress. Bree’s low cross was close to forcing an own goal from Ben Nelson, before Leicester’s stand-in boss Andy King replaced attacker Mavididi with defender Jamal Lascelles, underlining the anxiety inside the King Power Stadium.

Ultimately the hosts only succeeded in inviting pressure. Stephens pulled another goal back with eight minutes to go when substitute Manning headed Scienza’s deep cross back across goal, forcing Begović to palm the ball out to the Saints skipper, who still had plenty to do but did it brilliantly, burying the bouncing ball into the roof of the net and racing back into his own half for the restart.

It was Manning who headed the equaliser four minutes from time, as Scienza’s left-wing corner found its way through for the Irishman to gleefully head home inside the six-yard box after Stephens had missed a chance to score his second, skewing a low shot wide.

Still Saints wanted more, pushing for a winner with Azaz denied by a fine one-handed save from Begović, but Charles was the hero, scoring a sublime winning goal from Stewart’s lay-off to round off another memorable meeting between the two clubs who always seem to serve up something special every time they meet.

Leicester City: Begović, Ricardo (c), Okoli, Nelson, L. Thomas, Skipp, Winks, Fatawu (S. Thomas 84), Mukasa (Page 64), Mavididi (Lascelles 75), Daka (Ayew 84).

Subs not used: Stolarczyk, Kristiansen, Aluko, Marçal, Richards.

Goals: Mukasa (9’), Daka (13’), Fatawu (29’).

Southampton: Peretz, Bree (Larin 79), Harwood-Bellis, Stephens (c), Welington (Manning 72), Downes, Jander (Charles 46), Fellows (Matsuki 46), Azaz, Scienza, Archer (Stewart 46).

Subs not used: Long, Wood, Jelert, Edozie.

Goals: Stewart (61’), Stephens (82’), Manning (86’), Charles (90+6’).

Booked: Jander.

Attendance: 25,827.