Brighton was the team that took the lead of the game but finally was knocked out by Southampton in a late match of round 11 of the English Premier League tournament.
Brighton struggled in the relegation zone of the English Premier League when they stepped into the match against Southampton. Three-point is the ultimate goal that the home team had to achieve, and they nearly got it in the match against Southampton yesterday. Unfortunately, the home team lost to their opponent and continued to suffer from the relegation zone.
It was Brighton that scored the leading goal of the game in the 25th minute thanks to a correct penalty shot of Pascal Gross. Earlier, Southampton captain – James Ward-Prowse – got a handball playing inside the box and it granted a penalty shot for Brighton. Despite the argument from the visiting team, referee David Coote let Brighton take their penalty chance. Gross was so attentive and cautious that he gave no chance for a stoppage from Southampton’s Alex McCarthy.
Brighton got the lead, but they could not protect that advantage for too long. In the extra time of the first half, Southampton got the equalizer, all thanks to the defender Jannik Vestergaard and a beautiful cross from the captain Ward-Prowse. The Danish powerhouse made the ball into the back of the net with a powerful header after a clinical pass from the English captain.
In the second half, Southampton became the team that controlled the match better. The Saints ran the game on their style, and there was a moment in the showcase that Southampton possessed the ball more than 70%. However, the visiting team could not score the goal until the climax broke out.
When the time for the match was only 10 minutes left, Brighton’s Solly March made a fault contact against Southampton defender Kyle Walker-Peters inside the box. The referee Cote decided that it was a free kick at the first place, but then changed his mind after discussing with the VAR team.
This time, it was Brighton that protested extremely against the decision of the referee. Nonetheless, it could not change anything. Southampton still got their penalty shot, and Dany Ings did not waste such a good chance like that. The Englishman has been sitting for a month because of injury, and last night, he scored his first goal after such a long time of resting. It was the sixth goal in this season for Ings.
This victory helped Southampton uplift themselves to a position in top 5 of the English Premier League. Also, Manchester United and Manchester City were pushed downward one position respectively after the victory of Southampton.