DANNY Ings’ goal wasn’t enough for Saints to see off ten-man Tottenham at White Hart Lane thanks to finishes from Harry Kane and Tanguy Ndombele during a dramatic first half.

Ndombele had given Spurs the lead in the 24th minute, only for the home side to have Serge Aurier sent off for two bookable offences.

This allowed the visitors back into the game when Ings took advantage of poor goalkeeping, only for Kane to restore Tottenham’s lead before the first 45 minutes were out and end the St Mary’s side’s run of four consecutive away wins.

Saints were dealt a blow during the warm-up due to Cedric picking up an injury, eventually leading to him being replaced by Jannik Vestergaard before the match got underway.

This led to Ralph Hasenhuttl having to tinker with his formation before a ball had been kicked, changing it to five at the back with James Ward-Prowse acting as a right-wing back.

Oriol Romeu clashed with Tottenham’s Ndombele in the third minute which forced the summer signing off the pitch for a short period of time.

Maya Yoshida registered the first chance of the game for either side when he climbed highest to head Ward-Prowse’s free-kick over the bar.

Tottenham felt their way into the game and forced Jan Bednarek to make a tackle in the box after ex-Saint Toby Alderweireld’s ball found Heung-Min Song.

Hasenhuttl’s side immediately responded to the threat by having a chance of their own.

Nathan Redmond surged forward before sliding the ball across to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg on the edge of the box, only for the midfielder to be denied by Hugo Lloris.

Sofiane Boufal was the next player in line to force the Spurs goalkeeper to make a save when he let fly from distance after turning away from Harry Winks.

A free-kick from Christian Eriksen in the 19th minute ended up in the path of Harry Kane, only for the striker to slip and fluff his lines from close range.

Luckily for Saints, Kane was unable to replicate his goal against Leicester when he managed to aim the ball into the top corner despite falling over.

Tottenham continued to assert their authority which led to Ndembele being denied a goalscoring opportunity thanks to a block from captain Hojbjerg.

However, just moments later Ndembele was given another chance to fire the home side into the lead and this time he made no mistake.

He was picked out by Son just inside the box before drilling his shot past Angus Gunn and into the top corner.

With the opening goal coming in the 24th minute, Saints were just 120 seconds shy of setting a new defensive club-record.

Tottenham were reduced to ten men in the 31st minute when Aurier picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Ryan Bertrand.

The French defender had only been booked moments earlier for clattering into Boufal.

Despite having a man less, Spurs continued to threaten the Saints net. This time, Kane noticed Gunn off his line and audaciously tried to lob him from the halfway line, only for it to go over the bar.

Saints were back in the game on 39 minutes thanks to a woeful blunder from Lloris and a wonderful piece of opportunism by Ings.

The Spurs goalkeeper took to long on the ball which allowed the striker to close him down, nick the ball off him, and prod it over the line.

Hasenhuttl’s side then got caught on the break, despite having an extra man on the pitch, which ended in Kane rifling his shot past Gunn who remained rooted to his spot just before half-time.

Ward-Prowse came close to levelling the tie in the 57th minute, as he forced Lloris into an excellent save from a free-kick.

The Saints midfielder was again involved when his corner was met by the head of Yoshida.

It looked as though it had Lloris beaten, however, the 32-year-old pulled out a save straight from the top drawer to deny the defender.

White Hart Lane nearly erupted into celebration for the third time when Danny Rose’s centre was narrowly missed by Kane.

Hasenhuttl waited until the 79th minute to make his first change of the afternoon, with Stuart Armstrong replacing Vestergaard.

Saints continued to pepper the Spurs penalty area but failed to find the decisive pass to cut the home side’s defence open.

Michael Obafemi was then introduced into the game, replacing Ings, in the hope of stretching a leggy Tottenham back-four.

But it was the Saints defence that were put under pressure again when Kane eased his way past Jan Bednarek into the box before sliding his effort past the post.