Key events
On balance of play, a draw seems about right. Brighton were by far the better team in the first half; Southampton much improved after the break. But luck is hard to come by when you’re rock bottom, and the decision to rule out Cameron Archer’s goal for interference from the offside Adam Armstrong looked contentious at best. It really didn’t look like Bart Verbruggen was affected in any significant fashion by Armstrong’s fresh-air swipe as the ball came across. Then again, as so often with these borderline decisions, a case can be made either way, and with the on-field team having already called the goal offside, perhaps there wasn’t enough in it to overturn. Who knows? Oh VAR. But here we are, and a point apiece is enough to send Brighton into the heady heights of second spot, for one night at least, while at the bottom Saints nudge a little closer to Crystal Palace.
FULL TIME: Brighton 1-1 Southampton
A furious Russell Martin makes a beeline for the referee, but is stopped by his staff. VAR, huh.
90 min +13: Minteh curls in. Van Hecke eyebrows weakly wide right. And then the whistle goes.
90 min +12: Fernandes has the chance of releasing Sulemana down the middle, but his pass hits the substitute striker on the heel. Brighton go up the other end, and Dibling is booked for a reckless lunge on the in-flight Mitoma. One last chance for Brighton with this free kick just to the left of the box.
90 min +11: … Ferguson finds himself bundled over, but only when competing for a flicked-on ball while in a clear offside position. No penalty. For a split second there, Southampton hearts were in mouths.
90 min +10: Mitoma runs hard down the left. His cross is met by Adingra, who bundles a weak shot across Lumley and off the outside of the right-hand post! There was a deflection, so that’ll be a corner. From which …
90 min +9: Van Hecke pearls a long-distance shot towards the top-right corner. He’s hit it well, but he’s so far out, it’s easy pickings for Lumley, who one loose pass apart, has looked pretty solid for Saints tonight.
90 min +8: It’s petering out again.
90 min +7: Dibling embarks on a power dribble down the right and is unceremoniously checked by Wieffer, who goes into the book.
90 min +5: The folk at the Premier League Match Centre have published their reasoning for the disallowed goal. “The referee’s call of no goal was checked and confirmed by the VAR as Armstrong was in an offside position and deemed to be impacting Verbruggen’s ability to play the ball.” Nobody knows anything any more. Partly because everyone’s winging it.
90 min +4: Fraser’s latest cross from the left is plucked from the sky by Verbruggen.
90 min +3: Ayari enters the Saints box down the left and goes over in the general environs of Harwood-Bellis. He wants a penalty, but neither referee nor VAR shows any interest whatsoever. And quite rightly so.
90 min +2: Minteh’s cross from the right is headed goalwards by Adingra. Easy for Lumley.
90 min +1: Armstrong is replaced by a freshly shorn Brereton Diaz.
90 min: There will be ten minutes of additional time. Little wonder: a lot of subs plus that long VAR check.
89 min: Dibling and Estupinan get involved in a pointless shoving match over nothing very much at all. The referee merely waves play on.
88 min: Estupinan crosses from the left. Ferguson cushions a header down to Ayari, who slashes a wild effort over the bar from the penalty spot. He had more time than he thought. Then both teams make a change, Minteh replacing Rutter for the hosts, Sulemana coming on for Archer for the Saints.
86 min: Fraser has made a difference since coming on. A couple of crosses from the left cause the hosts some momentary bother. He looks the most likely to create something right now.
85 min: This match is slowly petering out. Can either team find the energy for a final push?
83 min: Armstrong spins and swivels his way down the left. His dinked cross is only half cleared, but Dibling’s attempted volley is scuffed and easily blocked.
81 min: Ferguson manages to skittle both Fraser and Manning in one fell swoop. Some good old-fashioned number-nine play.
80 min: Lumley is fine to continue. The game restarts, and Dibling glides in from the right before bobbling a shot towards the bottom right. Easy for Verbruggen.
79 min: As the keeper gets his right knee checked, Brighton make another change, Ferguson coming on for Welbeck.
77 min: Lumley is down getting some treatment.
75 min: Brighton, full of relief, go on the attack in search of the Saints Sickener. Rutter tries an overhead that flies inches wide of the left-hand post. Dunk sends a header over. Wieffer ditto. Southampton, brought back down to earth, need to clear their heads of that crushing disappointment.
74 min: A triple change by Brighton. Wieffer, Adingra and Dunk come on for Lamptey, Pedro and O’Riley.
NO GOAL. Brighton 1-1 Southampton
72 min: VAR decides Armstrong’s flick towards the ball constitutes interference. That’s a fairly generous interpretation, it has to be said. Van Hecke was out of the game, and Verbruggen didn’t seem affected. But here we are.
71 min: Archer is on! But did Armstrong – certainly in an offside position by the near post, ahead of Van Hecke, neither of them close to Archer stood behind them in the centre – make a movement towards the ball that had an impact on play?
70 min: This is really tight. Archer in the centre looks off to the naked eye, but Lamptey, in the right-back position could be playing him on.
69 min: … but VAR is going to have a look at this. The flag has popped up for offside. It’s very tight. Was Archer inches off? Out come the rulers.
GOAL! Brighton 1-2 Southampton (Archer 67)
Dibling sashays in from the right and sends Fraser scampering into acres down the left. Fraser crosses. Archer opens his body and slams into the bottom right. Easy as that! What an outrageous turnaround!
66 min: Downes is replaced before he can get himself sent off. Aribo comes on in his stead, while Sugawara makes way for Fraser.
64 min: Southampton assistant manager Matt Gill was the recipient of that aforementioned booking.
63 min: That goal has given Southampton such succour, and now Armstrong barrels down the left into space. Archer is free in the middle, but he can’t find him with his cross. Had the cross been any good, it was surely 2-1 to Saints. How quickly games can change.
62 min: … and breathe. The Brighton free kick leads to nothing.
