Jose Fonte scored twice, including a last-minute equaliser, as Saints earned a point against Fulham at St Mary’s.

The defender had opened the scoring with a looping header in the fourth minute, before a Jos Hooiveld own goal and a late Kieran Richardson strike put Martin Jol's side in front.

However, Fonte rescued a draw with another header, this time from Danny Fox’s in-swinging free-kick.

Saints started brightly and deservedly opened the scoring in the early stages.

From Adam Lallana’s corner, Fonte eluded the Fulham defence with some nice movement and looped a header across goal and just inside the far post.

Saints had the better of the first half, but were unable to build on their lead.

As the game wore on, Fulham came into it more and the visitors dominated the second half.

They equalised in the 69th minute when John Arne Riise’s powerful low drive was deflected into the net by Hooiveld.

It looked like Saints had lost the match when they allowed Sascha Riether to get down the right and cut the ball back for Richardson, who fired in a shot that deflected off Hooiveld.

But Fox’s teasing delivery in the final stages was met by Fonte, who put a header past Mark Schwarzer from close range.

The result moved Saints out of the relegation zone heading into the international break, as they leapfrogged Reading and moved up to 17th place.