Sofiane Boufal brilliance gives Southampton deserved replay against stuttering Tottenham

The English-based career of Sofiane Boufal will perhaps forever be defined by his sequence of trickery and acceleration against West Bromwich Albion in October 2017 that ended in one of the great goals of that season, and now he has an FA Cup strike to go alongside it.

Just three regulation minutes remained when Boufal timed his run onto Danny Ings’ cut-back across the area and took this FA Cup fourth-round tie to a replay, much to the displeasure of Jose Mourinho and a Tottenham Hotspur team that had been hanging on for some time. Spurs had not wanted to dominate the ball and by the second half, Saints were on the front foot and coming after them in a match that showed the importance of this competition to both managers.

For Mourinho it offers the chance of what would be a landmark trophy – for Spurs rather than for him - and he picked a strong team. For Ralph Hasenhuttl, whose side are resurgent in the league, this was also a first-string side and his substitutions, including the second half introduction of Boufal, showed that this one mattered to him too.

A second half goal from Son Heung-Min was what Spurs hung onto, one that was largely made at the feet of the robust, skilful Argentine Giovani Lo Celso who arrived on loan in the summer but never got the chance to blossom under Mourinho’s predecessor. Mauricio Pochettino did not see the best of Lo Celso and yet now, in these winter months without the likes of Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko, the man on loan from Real Betis is becoming ever more important.

Lo Celso’s ability to keep the ball under pressure, and then his vision, unlocked Saints, via Dele Alli’s pass out to Son. The video assistant referee Jon Moss took a long look at the goal for a push by Dele on Kevin Ganso but eventually gave it the all clear. As Spurs let Saints have the ball, the chances started to come and by the time Boufal scored his first goal of the season, it was already looking risky for the away side.

Ings had a good appeal for a handball by Japhet Tanganga that VAR Moss seemed to ignore. The Saints top goalscorer nodded a header wide and then eventually, in the left channel of the area, he picked out Boufal whose timing was perfect to lift an equaliser past Hugo Lloris.

Southampton (4-2-3-1): Gunn; Danso (Boufal, 71), Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand; Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg; Armstrong (Djenepo, 43), Obafemi (Adams, 74), Redmond; Ings.

Subs not used: Lewis (g), Yoshida, Romeu, Smallbone.

Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Tanganga; Fernandes (Lamela, 56), Winks, Dele (Dier, 88); Lo Celso, Moura, Son.

Subs not used: Gazzaniga (g), Vertonghen, Sessegnon, Foyth, Ndombele.

Referee: Peter Bankes