James Bree struck a late winner as Premier League strugglers Southampton survived a major scare by scraping into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Championship side Stoke.
Goals from Potters pair Ashley Phillips and Tom Cannon threatened to force a penalty shoot-out after Saints blew a two-goal lead following Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ header and Adam Armstrong’s spot-kick.
Defender Bree prevented a new low in a miserable season so far for the top-flight’s bottom club by rifling home from range in the 88th minute at a sparsely-populated St Mary’s.
Southampton were fortunate to reach that stage still level as only a goal-line clearance from Yukinari Sugawara stopped Stoke substitute Million Manhoef completing the turnaround minutes earlier.
After picking up a solitary point from nine league games following promotion, Russell Martin branded the game his team’s “most important” of the season.
The Saints boss, who was serving a touchline ban after collecting a third booking of the campaign, made six changes to the starting XI which began Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Manchester City, while Stoke’s nine alterations included further starts in this competition for 17-year-old England Under-18 internationals Sol Sidibe and Jaden Dixon.
Southampton midfielder Joe Aribo tested Potters goalkeeper Jack Bonham during a subdued start to the contest before the hosts claimed a 19th-minute breakthrough.
Mateus Fernandes delivered an inswinging corner from the left and former Stoke loanee Harwood-Bellis easily escaped the marking of Phillips to nod home.
Manager Martin, who was watching the match from the top of the empty stand on the opposite side of the pitch to the technical areas, saw his hosts stretch their advantage 10 minutes before the break.
Having initially appeared to have his shirt pulled, teenage Potters defender Dixon fouled Sugawara in the area after being dispossessed, allowing Armstrong to calmly find the right corner from the spot to claim his first goal since the winner in May’s Championship play-off final against Leeds.
Stoke arrived in Hampshire only a point above the second-tier relegation zone following just one win from seven fixtures since the appointment of 36-year-old Spanish head coach Narcis Pelach.
The away team initially offered little from an attacking perspective before halving the deficit in the final minute of the opening period as Tottenham loanee Phillips atoned for his role in the opener in eye-catching fashion.
With Southampton struggling to deal with Eric Bocat’s free-kick into the box, the 19-year-old dispatched an improvised back-heeled volley into the bottom left corner to register his first senior goal after the ball bounced loose off Sugawara and fell behind him.
Stoke, whose only victory under Pelach was a 6-1 thrashing of Saints’ bitter rivals Portsmouth at the start of the month, stunned the hosts by levelling in the 54th minute.
Junior Tchamadeu’s fizzing effort from the right took a heavy touch off Bree and flew to the back post where Cannon fired high into the roof of the net.
With the jeopardy of spot-kicks looming, Saints breathed a major sigh of relief when the alertness of Sugawara stopped Dutch forward Manhoef bundling home five minutes from time.
Bree then spared his side embarrassment, lashing into the bottom left corner from around 25 yards before the hosts held on during eight minutes of added time.