Brighton miss chance to go clear after Southampton stalemate | OneFootball

High-flying Brighton will lament leaving their shooting boots at home tonight after a frustrating 1-1 draw against fellow south coast outfit Southampton.

Scorers: Mitoma 29'; Downes 59'

In a match that was not expected to result in anything other than a Brighton win, Fabian Hürzeler’s Seagulls failed to keep pressure on the big boys around them in the early race for Champions League qualification.

Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter both flashed early efforts wide of Joe Lumley’s goal inside the first 10 minutes of action, with Mitoma’s miss going down as a huge chance gone begging.

Rutter once again so nearly put the home side in front, this time in the 16th minute when his thumping curled effort looked destined to beat Lumley from outside the box before it clattered off the far post.

Brighton finally pulled out in front through Mitoma in the 29th minute after his diving header turned home Tariq Lamptey’s inswinging ball toward the back post.

Given that Russell Martin’s men have lost all eight of their previous league matches this term after going a goal down, the odds certainly were not in favor of pulling anything back away from home.

But football is not characterized by odds, and Saints made Brighton pay for their failure to put them away when Flynn Downes bagged his first-ever Premier League goal in the 59th minute with a thunderous hit from inside the box.

Downes was probably a bit lucky to remain on the pitch overall, however, after committing five fouls - as well as seeing yellow - before ultimately being taken off by Martin shortly after his equalizer.

Saints then were perhaps unjustly denied a match-winner through Archer, but the goal was pulled back after VAR deemed that Adam Armstrong's offside action just prior was enough to interfere with the flow of play.

Despite Hürzeler's troops pushing for a late winner during 10 minutes of added time, they would have to settle for a share of the spoils.

With this result, Brighton pulls a point ahead of both Arsenal and Chelsea while sitting level in second with Manchester City, while Saints remain rooted to the bottom of the table and five points from safety.

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