A 90th-minute header by Jose Fonte saw Southampton snatch victory away from Fulham as the two sides played out a pulsating 2-2 draw.

The Whites had looked set to take all three points when substitute Kieran Richardson’s late strike saw Fulham come from behind to lead 2-1 with just a few minutes remaining.

The midfielder, a replacement for Alexander Kačaniklić midway through the second half, fired home Sascha Riether’s cross to leave the vocal 2,400 travelling Fulham dreaming of a win.

But Southampton had other ideas and Fonte grabbed his second of the game late on to snatch a point for the hosts after a foul by Richardson outside the box had won Saints a free-kick.

Trailing to Fonte’s early goal, Fulham were poor in the first half.

But the Whites found their feet in the second period. Steve Sidwell hit a post and Hugo Rodallega forced a brilliant save from Paulo Gazzaniga, before Martin Jol’s men finally drew level in the 69th minute when John Arne Riise’s long-range drive was turned into his own net by Jos Hooiveld.

A draw appeared on the cards, but Richardson struck in the 87th minute with what appeared to be the winner, until Fonte’s late intervention.

Jol made just one change from the side that lost 2-1 to Manchester City last weekend, with Kačaniklić replacing the injured Mladen Petrić. The young Swede lined-up on the left flank, with Rodallega leading the line and Bryan Ruiz tucking in just behind.

Philippe Senderos was named on the substitutes’ bench for the first time this season after his foot injury. He was joined by Richardson, himself back from injury. As expected, Dimitar Berbatov remained absent with a hip problem. Former Fulham man Steven Davis was in Southampton’s starting XI.

Fulham went into the encounter in the knowledge that it was 77 years since we had last won a league game at Southampton. And Jol’s men got off to an awful start, going behind in the fourth minute when a corner from Adam Lallana was met by Fonte whose header looped off Rodallega and in at the far post. Aaron Hughes desperately tried to get back to clear from under the bar, but the ball found its way in.

The Saints were forced into an early change shortly afterwards when Frazer Richardson was stretchered off. He was replaced by Hooiveld.

Fulham’s first attack of note came in the 10th minute. Ruiz won a free-kick on the left. The Costa Rican took the set-play himself and the ball found its way out to Hughes, who saw his effort charged down. Two successive corners then came to nothing.

Rickie Lambert could have made it 2-0 on 17 minutes when he played Jay Rodriguez in down the left. The former Burnley man’s pull-back was perfect for Lambert but his low side-footed effort from 12 yards out flashed just wide of the far post.

At the other end, Hughes headed Damien Duff’s cross onto the roof of the net, before another Saints corner caused problems in the Fulham defence, with Jason Puncheon’s shot from close range being cleared off the line by Riether. Puncheon had the ball in the back of the net from the resulting corner, but referee Mark Clattenburg ruled it out for an apparent foul on Schwarzer, much to Fulham’s relief.

Schwarzer came to Fulham’s rescue in the 40th minute when he got down quickly to keep out Lambert’s powerful drive after the Southampton striker had been found in space on the left of the area by Puncheon.

Fonte then got away with a handball just outside the Southampton box a minute later, before the Whites won yet another corner in stoppage time, with Hughes’ header from Ruiz’s delivery held by Gazzaniga. It was the first time the Southampton stopper had been called into action.

In the second minute of time added on, Hughes’ long ball forward was misjudged by Hooiveld. Rodallega got in behind but, with Gazzaniga racing out of his goal, the Fulham man couldn’t quite get enough on the ball as his toe-poked effort rolled wide.

Fulham’s end to the first half offered some hope at the start of the second but Lambert volleyed over in the 51st minute after ghosting in to the box to meet Puncheon’s cross.

The Whites, though, began to improve and they went close to equalising twice in the space of a minute on the hour mark. Firstly, Ruiz’s free-kick was turned onto the post by Sidwell, before Duff’s cross found Rodallega at the far stick but his header from five yards was brilliantly clawed away by Gazzaniga from under his crossbar.

Five minutes later, Jol made his first change of the afternoon, bringing on Richardson for Kačaniklić. And four minutes later, the Whites were level. Riether’s cross was only cleared as far as Riise. The left-back, 25 yards from goal, hit the ball first time with his left foot. It flew towards goal – but may have been going wide – until Hooiveld stuck out a leg and turned it into his own net.

Before the restart, Giorgos Karagounis was introduced in place of Sidwell.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, Richardson ballooned a Riether cross miles over the bar. But the former Sunderland man was to get on the scoresheet with time running out. Again it was Riether who got down the right and this time the cross was turned home brilliantly by Richardson via the aid of a deflection.

It looked for all the world as though that would win it for Fulham, but as the clock ticked into stoppage time, Daniel Fox’s cross was headed home from close range by Fonte.

There were a few more scares for Fulham in the dying seconds but a pulsating second half finally came to an end with the spoils shared.