Southampton created the first opening of the second half when Finn Azaz cleverly laid the ball back for Matsuki on the edge of the area, but his effort flew over the bar. Tom Shaw was then shown a yellow card by the referee on 54 minutes, before Scienza worked his way into shooting space a minute later and fired well over.
City had an opportunity to break on 56 minutes, but the move broke down with Varfolomeev. Southampton were allowed to play on following his foul and Larin eventually saw a shot deflected over, with Varfolomeev booked once the move had ended. The referee then drew the ire of the home crowd again when McGrandles appeared to be caught late by Larin, but no foul was given.
Southampton came desperately close to doubling their lead on 61 minutes. Scienza cut outside and curled a superb effort towards goal, striking the inside of one post before the ball travelled across the face of goal and hit the other.
The visitors made a double change two minutes later, Divin Mubama replacing Larin and Samuel Edozie coming on for Scienza. City responded with a triple substitution of their own, Hackett, Mikkel Ladefoged and Yunus Konak replacing Varfolomeev, Street and Bradley.
The game became increasingly scrappy after that, with neither side creating much in the way of clear chances. Draper was booked on 75 minutes after lunging in on Welington, before City made another double change, Tom Bayliss and Chiedozie Ogbene replacing McGrandles and House.
City then created their best chance of the game. Wickens launched a long free kick into the Southampton area, Ladefoged headed it down and Coubis met it on the volley, sending his effort narrowly over.
Southampton introduced Lewis Dobbin and Ryan Manning for Azaz and Welington, before another controversial moment followed. The visitors surrendered possession and Hackett looked to deliver into a dangerous area, but the referee awarded Southampton a free kick, denying City what appeared to be a promising one-on-one situation.
The Imps continued to push. Ladefoged released Ogbene on 80 minutes and the substitute forced Peretz into a save with his legs, winning a corner. There had also been a challenge in the build-up which went unpunished, further increasing the frustration inside Sincil Bank.
From the resulting corner, Draper headed over from close range, with the home support appealing unsuccessfully for another corner. City threatened again two minutes later when Draper found Ogbene, who broke into the area but saw his shot blocked from an angle.
Ladefoged was next to threaten, finding space inside the box but unable to get the ball cleanly out of his feet before shooting over. Southampton then made another change, Nathan Wood replacing Matsuki.
City’s pressure finally told on 87 minutes. Bayliss helped work the ball into a dangerous position before Hackett delivered from the left, and Ladefoged arrived at the back post to head home and make it 1-1.
Southampton almost restored their lead two minutes later, but Reach was in the right place to clear an effort off the line. There was still time for another contentious decision in added time when Bree hacked down Konak, but despite the nature of the challenge, only a free kick was awarded.
Referee Andrew Kitchen eventually brought proceedings to an end, and the visitors were certainly much happier as City looked more likely to score.
The attendance at Sincil Bank was 10,758, including 1,534 visiting supporters.
Bars are scaled to the best figure in this match, and each rank is against the players who actually registered that stat — "3rd/12" is third of the twelve who managed one. This is a within-match ranking, not a league-wide one, which a single match cannot give. Radar axes are scaled the same way, and are left out for goalkeepers, whose near-zero attacking figures would draw a meaningless dot.
Comments Welcome!