Tottenham Hotspur have defeated Southampton 4-1 at St Mary's Stadium to move back to within one point of the Premier League's top four.
Spurs were behind a little over a minute into the match from the first attempt of the evening, before hitting back in style on the south coast to earn a first away win in six attempts.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men prior to the hour mark in a controversial call from referee Mike Dean, and further damage was inflicted in the remainder despite Harry Kane initially fluffing his lines from the penalty spot.
Victory for the Lilywhites also takes them to 71 points for 2016, their most ever in a calendar year, while at the same time ending the Saints' run of just one defeat at home all term.
Southampton were ahead with 69 seconds on the clock, capitalising from a free kick conceded by returning midfielder Victor Wanyama in a decent crossing position.
James Ward-Prowse sent in a good delivery, which Virgil van Dijk got to ahead of Eric Dier - fielded at the back in the absence of sickness victim Toby Alderweireld - to score the top flight's fourth-fastest goal this season.
Tottenham were really struggling to deal with Southampton's high press as the opening quarter of the game transpired, with Jay Rodriguez getting in behind but scuffing his shot wide and Nathan Redmond also sending the ball narrowly wide of the far post.
Momentum well and truly shifted 19 minutes in, however, after Dele Alli outjumped a wrong-footed Van Dijk, caught out by a deflection from a left-sided cross, to superbly nod his side level.
From that point on the visitors dominated the first half but failed to test Fraser Forster, coming closest to a second prior to the interval when Wanyama beat two men inside the box, only for his eventual shot towards goal to be superbly blocked by Jose Fonte just a few yards out.
The second half started in an explosive manner, with Kane - who touched the ball just 17 times in the opening 45 minutes - heading in the game's third goal from a corner to end a scoring drought of of 344 minutes.
That goal also took Kane's tally for the season into double figures, but he was to be left red faced just a few minutes later after blasting a penalty kick well over the bar.
Moussa Sissoko had played Alli in behind and Redmond pulled back on his compatriot's shirt, not only conceding a spot kick but also earning a delayed red shown to him by referee Dean - the fourth time he has sent off a player this campaign.
Southampton may have avoided the double-jeopardy of shipping a third moments after going down to 10 men, but they struggled to find any sort of momentum and should have been out for the count 72 minutes in.
Christian Eriksen got to the ball first 15 yards from goal and sent his shot against the crossbar, before Danny Rose drilled wide when picked out in a good position towards the back post.
Southampton, with a league-low 14 goals on home soil prior to this match, had half a chance to punish their opponents' profligacy in the final 10 minutes of the match, though substitute Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg failed to do anything with the ball when Hugo Lloris passed it straight to him.
There was to be no late twist at St Mary's, however, as Son Heung-min came off the bench to coolly tuck home a third at the end of an Eriksen through-ball, before Alli - the man who started the comeback - produced an equally smart finish for number four.
Daniel Lewis
