Russell Martin praised Southampton’s bravery as Ryan Fraser was again their late hero at Millwall.
The Saints have scored crucial injury-time goals in their last three away games with Fraser, who scored a last-gasp winner at Hull last month, sealing the spoils with a 93rd-minute strike.
Martin’s side are now motoring – having also drawn with Preston thanks to Ched Evans’ stoppage-time own goal – but were made to wait for their fifth win in seven, peppering Bartosz Bialkowski’s goal but unable to get past the Pole until the last gasp.
“The lads responded and stayed so brave in the second half,” said Martin. “The amount of running we made them do made the game look like it did in the last half-hour.
“We were relentless in attack and at the hour mark I thought ‘we’ve got them’ but their keeper made a few good saves and we couldn’t get the goal.
“Thankfully we got it right at the end and it’s a moment of composure. I’m really grateful for that and proud of the players.
“I think we had control, we limited them to one shot on target and they hit the bar from a set-piece.
“The second half looked a lot different because we were aggressive, we made runs for each other to open them up and I was really pleased with that.”
Bialkowski made a string of fine saves, keeping out Stuart Armstrong’s shot in the 20th minute and then powerful efforts from Carlos Alcaraz and Will Smallbone.
Frustration grew in the Saints ranks with Kamaldeen Sulemana, another denied by Bialkowski in the second half, reacting angrily to being substituted by Martin.
“We had guys coming off the pitch annoyed that they’ve come off and I don’t mind that,” said Martin.
“I’ve told them it’s a squad game. And if you show you’re annoyed when you come off I honestly don’t have a problem with that at all.
“They’re human beings and want to play football and that’s how it should be. I don’t see that as disrespectful and all that nonsense. As long as they celebrate with the guys when there’s a moment like that, which they did, then there’s never a problem.”
Adam Barrett continues to take caretaker charge at the Den, with Millwall now winless in five having also conceded late in their draw with Watford.
“You know with the quality players they’ve got and their play that they will wear you down a bit,” he said of Saints.
“I’m frustrated with the ending because when you switch off for one moment against these tough teams they punish you. They keep working and probing and it was a real sickener to concede so late again.
“I haven’t watched it back, but my initial thoughts are we spoke about the way they play and move and I don’t think we dealt with it well enough.
“They’re good players and they go and punish you. It’s two games there where we should be coming away with four points and we’ve got one.
“It’s vital we get results back on track here, it’s been disappointing.
“We’ve hit the bar first half and that could have changed it. The fans were with the boys all game, it was a great atmosphere. But we’ve got to get The Den back to being a real difficult place to come.”
Venezuela 1-1 Argentina: Rondon equaliser thwarts world champions on Messi return
Argentina dropped points in a second successive CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier, as Venezuela held them to a 1-1 draw in Maturin.
The spoils were shared at Estadio Monumental de Maturin, where Salomon Rondon's second-half header cancelled out Nicolas Otamendi's earlier effort.
After heavy rain delayed kick-off, Argentina took the lead in the 13th minute.
Venezuela goalkeeper Rafael Romo failed to properly clear the returning Lionel Messi's free-kick, and Otamendi reacted quickest to poke home from 12 yards out.
The hosts went close to levelling either side of the break. German Pezzella cleared off the line from Rondon, while Geronimo Rulli - deputising for the suspended Emiliano Martinez - kept out Yangel Herrera's powerful header.
However, Venezuela did grab their equaliser in the 65th minute - and subsequently a point - when Rondon rose at the near post to power home from Yeferson Soteldo's cross.
Messi returned to the international scene for the first time since limping off in tears during the Copa America final.
But the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner could not help Argentina get back to winning ways, while he conceded possession the joint-most times (19) by any visiting player.
The conditions certainly affected the flow of the game, and was more to the suiting of Venezuela. Although they had just 40.1% of possession, the hosts outshot their opponents 16-8.
However, they have now failed to win their last five CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers; their longest streak since going six without victory between June and October 2021.
Israel 1-4 France: Rampant Bleus clinch back-to-back Nations League wins
France made it back-to-back wins in the Nations League, with Christopher Nkunku and Bradley Barcola among the scorers as they thrashed Israel 4-1 in Hungary.
Playing at a neutral venue in Budapest's Bozsik Arena, France flew out of the traps as Israel goalkeeper Omri Glazer let Eduardo Camavinga's strike squirm past him in the sixth minute.
Israel did draw level midway through the first half as Omri Gandelman headed Oscar Gloukh's cross home, but they were on terms for less than five minutes as Chelsea forward Nkunku flicked the ball through Ilay Feingold's legs before slotting a low finish into the far corner.
Randal Kolo Muani twice went close to extending France's lead before Matteo Guendouzi gave them breathing space in the 87th minute, rolling a finish beyond Glazer and into the bottom corner.
Didier Deschamps' men added further gloss to the scoreline two minutes later, Guendouzi finding a similar position, but this time opting to pick out Barcola for a curled finish.
The result sees France move onto six points in Group A2, one adrift of Italy – who beat them on matchday one. They face Belgium next time out on Monday.
Data Debrief: New-look Bleus sparkle
With Kylian Mbappe absent due to a niggling injury and Antoine Griezmann retiring from international football, Deschamps fielded a new-look frontline of Nkunku, Kolo Muani, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise.
Recording 33 touches in the area to Israel's five, and 15 shots to their opponents' one, France certainly impressed.
Kolo Muani was a particular bright spark despite not getting on the scoresheet, with his four chances created being at least twice as many as any other player (Theo Hernandez laid on two).
Haaland becomes Norway's record scorer with Slovenia brace
Erling Haaland became Norway's all-time leading scorer with a brace in their 3-0 victory over Slovenia.
The Manchester City striker was captaining his first nation for the first time, and marked the occasion in trademark record-breaking fashion.
Haaland broke the deadlock after just seven minutes of the Nations League clash at the Ullevaal Stadium, where Alexander Sorloth doubled the lead seven minutes after the restart.
Sorloth then turned provider just after the hour mark for Haaland, who broke Jorgen Juve's 87-year record with his 34th international goal in just 36 caps.
The result put Norway firmly in charge of Group B3 with seven points, three ahead of Austria and Slovenia, with Kazakhstan propping up the table on one point.
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