Southampton 1-1 Brighton: Three key players

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SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 31: Jack Stephens of Southampton celebrates after scoring his sides first goal during the Premier League match between Southampton and Brighton and Hove Albion at St Mary’s Stadium on January 31, 2018 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) /

Southampton recorded a third consecutive Premier League draw as they were frustratingly held by a well-drilled Brighton at St. Mary’s.

Brighton took full advantage of both a drab atmosphere and a woeful first-half performance in the 14th minute when Wesley Hoedt clumsily brought down Solly March inside the box. Glenn Murray dispatched the resulting penalty to give Brighton an early lead, hardly shocking the St. Mary’s faithful.

In a game which had very few guilt-edged chances, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg went closest for Southampton when his relentless harrying of ‘keeper Matt Ryan saw the Australian’s clearance ricochet onto the crossbar.

Manager Mauricio Pellegrino made two uncharacteristic changes at half-time, hauling off the awful Dusan Tadic and the out-of-sorts Oriol Romeu in favour of record signing Guido Carrillo and Sofiane Boufal.

Southampton huffed and puffed, and finally got an equaliser on the hour, as Jack Stephens scored his second Saints goal in two games, getting a deft touch on James Ward-Prowse’s low delivery.

Despite their late dominance, it was clear that Southampton were never going to claim all three points (for the first time since a 4-1 thrashing of Everton in November), as they never really set out to find the Argentinian Carrillo, whose trademark is said to be headed goals.

The final whistle went, and yet another ‘must win’ game is squandered, leaving the clash with bottom club West Bromwich Albion on Saturday as possibly the most important game of the last 10 years.

Here are my three key players from yesterday’s draw: