Blackburn striker Andy Cole sneaked an injury-time equalizer after Southampton had dominated.
Cole turned in a low centre from David Dunn in the second minute of injury time to provide Blackburn with an unlikely point.
Southampton enjoyed massive amounts of possession but ran into American goal keeper Brad Friedel at his best.
Friedel made a series of outstanding saves and was beaten only from the penalty spot after 37 minutes from James Beattie.
Craig Short brought down Anders Svensson and Beattie stepped up to convert the spot kick for his fifth goal in as many games.
Friedel reserved his best for the 47th minute when he made a superb double save from Anders Svensson and Chris Marsden.
Blackburn had Turkish international midfield player Tugay sent off in the 75th minute for a second bookable offence and it seemed as if Blackburn would never recover without his inspiration.
But then Cole silenced a crowd of more than 30,000 by scoring from close range with Blackburn's first real chance.
Southampton manager Gordon Strachan said: "Graeme Souness apologised to me at the end because he knew his team had been lucky.
"Friedel must have been wearing a Superman outfit and I can only feel sorry for my players who deserved better than a draw. It was the best we have played for a long time." Blackburn manager Souness said: "That was the worst we have played since I have been here and we should have lost by a big margin.
"Southampton should have been out of sight by half time with the number of chances they had." Souness said Tugay had made a mistake in getting his red card, but he was pleased with the way his team never gave up