Southampton fought back from 2-0 down to beat Burnley and claim a crucial three points in the battle for Premier League survival.

Chris Wood fired in an early penalty, awarded after the video assistant referee advised Andre Marriner to check the pitchside monitor, before knocking down Ben Mee’s long ball for Matej Vydra to volley in a fine second goal.

But Southampton, who welcomed back Danny Ings and Theo Walcott from injury, hit straight back with midfielder Stuart Armstrong sweeping in the ball after a neat flick by Ings.

The ex-Burnley striker coolly slotted in his 10th goal of the season to equalise just before half-time, scoring against his former club for the third successive game.

And although Burnley’s Nick Pope pulled off some fine saves after the break, Saints broke the England goalkeeper’s resistance as Nathan Redmond volleyed them in front.

The hosts then needed some goalkeeping heroics from former England keeper Fraser Forster, who twice denied Wood late on, before clinching just their second win in 13 Premier League games.

That lifted Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men up to 13th in the table, 10 points clear of the relegation zone with eight games left.

Ings again shows his worth for Saints

Southampton were briefly top of the table in November but an alarming run of form this year forced Hasenhuttl to admit before Sunday’s game that both teams needed a win to give them breathing space above the bottom three.

He watched West Brom boost their survival hopes with a stunning win at Chelsea on Saturday, while his side had earned just seven points in 2021 before facing Burnley. But Saints showed the spirit needed to avoid being dragged into a relegation scrap.

The hosts had threatened before going 2-0 down, Redmond forcing Pope to turn a shot wide, but Vydra’s fine volley seemed to stun them into action.

Despite returning from international duty because of a minor calf issue, James Ward-Prowse was able to keep up his record of playing every single minute in the Premier League this season and the England midfielder fed Ings to set up Armstrong’s goal from the edge of the box.

And after more Southampton pressure, Kyle Walker-Peters’ ball down the line was allowed to run through to Ings and the England striker made Mee pay, racing clear of the Burnley centre-half before cutting inside James Tarkowski and slotting the ball between Pope’s legs.

Ward-Prowse thought he had put Saints in front in the second half when his 20-yard strike crashed down off the crossbar but replays showed it bounced off the goalline, and Armstrong’s deflected strike forced a fine reaction save from Pope.

Pope then denied Ings but Walcott, the on-loan Everton forward, latched on to the rebound and lifted the ball back for Redmond to volley home his third goal in two games, having scored twice in the FA Cup win at Bournemouth.

Hasenhuttl is confident the club can agree an extension with Ings, who enters the final year of his contract this summer. The 28-year-old has been a key man in his three seasons with Saints, but he needs help from his supporting cast – as he got today – if they are to challenge for silverware and a top-half finish.

They have the chance to do both in the coming weeks as they face Leicester in the FA Cup semi-finals and are back within six points of the top 10.

Clarets left looking over their shoulders

ALK Capital completed its takeover of Burnley three months ago and a run of five points from three games before the international break – against Leicester, Arsenal and Everton – suggested the club can look forward to a sixth successive season in the Premier League.

Manager Sean Dyche called for the Clarets to keep that consistency going and, after winning 2-1 at Everton last time out, Southampton picked up from where they left off.

Wood tested Forster before Erik Pieters outmuscled Walker-Peters in the home box and the Saints’ right-back made a desperate lunge as Pieters crossed, chopping down the former Netherlands international with his trailing leg.

Although Marriner waved play on, he gave the penalty after viewing the pitchside monitor and Wood thumped the spot-kick right down the middle for his seventh goal of the season, joining Ashley Barnes on a club-record 41 Premier League goals for Burnley.

Wood nodded down for Vydra to volley in just his fifth Premier League goal in three seasons with the Clarets, before the hosts stormed back to take the lead shortly after the hour mark.

Burnley regrouped and Wood had a curling effort turned wide by Forster, who then made a point-blank save to keep out Wood’s diving header, but they could not salvage a point.

Dyche has had “healthy and open” talks about the club’s future with new chairman Alan Pace, who has already backed Dyche to take the Clarets forward.

Being edged out by a resurgent Southampton should not change his opinion, especially when Dyche’s side have the chance to make amends against relegation rivals Newcastle next week.

‘Good for TV, not so good for managers’ – what they said

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl: “When you see five goals in one game it’s always good for television – not so good for the hearts of the managers.

“They don’t normally give you a lot of chances but our game in the final third was fantastic. We created a lot of chances. It’s exactly what we have been working on. We could have scored even more goals.

“I’m very happy we could turn it around against a team that was equal with us. When you are 2-0 up it is a safe place but we put pressure on them.

“We spoke about two games to the FA Cup semi-final and we want to give ourselves some confidence. These three points are important.”

Burnley boss Sean Dyche: “We had a lot of control in the first half an hour and did the simple things well. Then we flat-lined for 15 minutes. You cannot do that in the Premier League.

“Without being disrespectful to Southampton, we presented them with a chance to win the game and were a little bit naive.

“The second half was a ding-dong. We’ve gone from having game after game to having three weeks off. It’s tricky and we didn’t react like we normally do.

“That said, we do know how to see games off. It was a strange game because there were a lot of good things about it.”

Saints finally enjoy home comforts – the stats

• Southampton picked up their first Premier League home win since their first game in 2021 (1-0 v Liverpool), ending a run of five league games at St. Mary’s without a victory (drawn one, lost four).
• Southampton won a Premier League game in which they trailed by two goals for the first time since March 2016, when they won 3-2 against Liverpool under Ronald Koeman – a game in which Sadio Mane netted a double for the Saints.
• Burnley lost after leading 2-0 in a Premier League game for the first time since January 2015, when they were also beaten 3-2 by Crystal Palace.
• This was only the second Premier League game this season where both teams scored twice in the first half, following the 4-3 win for Liverpool against Leeds on the opening day.
• Chris Wood’s penalty was the 100th taken in the Premier League this season, and the 83rd to be converted – this is only the seventh Premier League campaign to see a century of penalties awarded.

What’s next?

Burnley host Newcastle next Sunday (12:00 BST) before Southampton visit second-bottom West Brom the following day (18:00).