Brighton 1-1 Southampton: Match recap

Southampton ground out a 1-1 draw with Brighton on Saturday afternoon in what proved to be a cagey affair at the AMEX stadium.

Saints took a deserved lead through Steven Davis’ close range header, but Glenn Murray struck early on in the second-half to level the game up.

Boss Mauricio Pellegrino rewarded last weekend’s hero Sofiane Boufal with a start on the left-wing, whilst James Ward-Prowse and Wesley Hoedt came into midfield and defence respectively. The team lined up in a 4-3-3 system which, on paper, looked like it could produce enough creativity to win the game.

After some good early pressure, Saints took the lead in the seventh minute. Sofiane Boufal won a free-kick in a great area just outside of the box and James Ward-Prowse stepped up to take. His brilliantly struck effort cannoned back off the post and towards the alert Steven Davis, who had the simple task of nodding into an empty net.

Saints then sat back somewhat having earned their lead and let Brighton have most of the ball for the rest of the half, but they did create a good chance for Dusan Tadic to double their lead. Boufal’s trickery down the right worked space for a cutback to the Serbian on the penalty spot, but his placed effort was deflected wide having seemed destined for the bottom corner.

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Brighton almost pulled level just before the break when Shane Duffy’s close range header was well blocked by the Saints defence, but this would be the home side’s only real opening with Pellegrino’s men defending deep and closing off attacking space.

Brighton would equalise six minutes into the second-half through Glenn Murray. Saints defenders couldn’t clear the ball, allowing it to be worked wide. Pascal Gross produced a looping cross to the back-post and Murray planted his header past Fraser Forster, who couldn’t quite keep the ball out of his net.

After a positive first-half display, Saints were struggling to reproduce moments of attacking quality and it looked like they could pay for not extending their first-half advantage. However, they almost regained the lead with 20 minutes left on the clock.

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Saints’ full-backs Cedric and Ryan Bertrand had found their way forward on numerous occasions, and it was the latter who produced an inviting low cross to the front post. The often isolated Manolo Gabbiadini lost his marker and flicked the ball goalwards, but Lewis Dunk blocked the ball wide.

From then on neither side could take advantage of their periods of pressure to score a winning goal, meaning both sides had to settle for a battling point at the full-time whistle.

A point gained sees Southampton climb to ninth in the table ahead of next weekend’s home game against Burnley.