Brighton 1-2 Southampton: Premier League – as it happened

5.27pm EST 17:27

Nick Ames was our man at the Amex. His report has landed. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!

Danny Ings penalty leaves Brighton unhappy as Southampton go fifth

5.26pm EST 17:26

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s turn. “I think the penalty was inside, it was a penalty. The line is also in, and it was also a little bit inside the line, so it was clear the contact was inside the box and it was a penalty, and that’s why we have VAR.”

5.18pm EST 17:18

Sky aren’t letting this drop, and press Graham Potter on the matter … only for the Brighton manager to respond in a measured and dignified fashion. “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen it back. It looks like the first challenge is outside, I don’t know whether there’s a second challenge. That’s what the referee seemed to think, and if that’s the case, that’s how it is. From our perspective we’re disappointed with our second-half performance, but having said that it was quite an even game. Disappointed with the result.” Sky don’t let it lie, and bring the subject back round to the penalty. “If the offence is deemed to be inside, and they prove that’s the case, that’s what we’re using it for and it’s just one of those things you have to accept.” A long pause as the interviewer realises Potter isn’t biting. Finally he asks some questions about the football, but you can tell his heart isn’t in any of those.

5.12pm EST 17:12

Sky badger Danny Ings about the penalty decision. “To be honest, I didn’t see it clear enough to know. I thought their players were very unhappy, but sometimes decisions go for you, sometimes they don’t.” Sky press further, testing Ings’ patience. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I was just stood there waiting to see either way. Even if it was a free kick, Prowsey has fantastic delivery and who knows, we could have scored from that anyway.”

5.08pm EST 17:08

Brighton remain in 16th spot, with 10 points, four above the drop zone. They surround David Coote, who is at the centre of yet another VAR controversy. On Sky, Jamie Carragher and Freddie Ljungberg both say Southampton’s winning penalty shouldn’t have been given. If pushed, I might argue the other way, but y’know. Opinions will be shared with good grace on social media. Anyway, never mind that: this win means Southampton become only the 11th side in Premier League history to reach 1,000 points.

4.52pm EST 16:52

FULL TIME: Brighton 1-2 Southampton

Danny Ings returns; Southampton are immediately back on track. Saints win on a Monday for the first time in 18 years. More pertinently, they go fifth. Brighton are now ten games without a win at home. The only team they’ve beaten at the Amex in 2020 is Arsenal.

4.50pm EST 16:50

90 min +3: Some scrappy scrapping in the midfield. The clock is very much Southampton’s friend now.

4.49pm EST 16:49

90 min +2: March curls in from the left. Trossard attempts to eyebrow a header across McCarthy but it’s too close to the keeper, who claims.

4.48pm EST 16:48

90 min +1: Veltman is caught dawdling and Armstrong is sent into the box on the right. He’s one on one with Ryan, who does well to usher him away from goal and force him to turn tail. A crucial intervention that keeps Brighton hoping.

4.46pm EST 16:46

89 min: Bissouma goes in the book for his overly animated reaction to being penalised for a garden-variety foul.

4.45pm EST 16:45

87 min: McCarthy is booked for taking his sweet time over a goal kick.

4.44pm EST 16:44

85 min: Brighton come again and win a corner down the right. McCarthy claims confidently. The hosts are fuelled by a sense of injustice, incensed that David Coote didn’t at least go over to check the monitor.

4.41pm EST 16:41

84 min: Brighton come at Saints with feeling. Maupay spins and shoots from the edge of the box but his effort sails wide of the bottom left.

4.39pm EST 16:39

82 min: Brighton respond by making a double change, sending on Trossard and Jahanbakhsh in place of White and Welbeck.

4.38pm EST 16:38

GOAL! Brighton 1-2 Southampton (Ings 81 pen)

Ings whips the penalty into the left-hand side of the net, sending Ryan the wrong way. Textbook!

Southampton’s Danny Ings whips the penalty into the left-hand side of the net. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/Reuters

Updated at 4.44pm EST

4.37pm EST 16:37

80 min: March goes in the book for his challenge.

Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters is fouled by Brighton’s Solly March. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/PA

Updated at 4.40pm EST

4.37pm EST 16:37

Penalty for Saints!

79 min: David Coote does the telly-box mime, and points straight at the spot! No checking the monitor.

4.35pm EST 16:35

78 min: VAR is taking a long time over this. It’s very close.

4.34pm EST 16:34

77 min: Walker-Peters gets ahead of March down the right, chasing a long Vestergaard pass, and threatens to break into the box. March barges him over from behind. A free kick is awarded, though that looked inside the box. VAR will check.

Updated at 4.46pm EST

4.34pm EST 16:34

76 min: March advances down the left and slips a neat diagonal pass infield to release Maupay into space. Maupay’s not so clever, running slap-bang into the nearest defender.

4.32pm EST 16:32

75 min: Saints are threatening to take control the game for the first time this evening. Brighton are finding it difficult to work their way out of their own half.

4.31pm EST 16:31

73 min: Redmond advances down the inside left and slips inside for Ings, who has his back to goal, juggles the ball twice, and spins. He’s trying to work space for himself, but the ball drops closer to Redmond, who had kept going. Redmond creams a volley over the bar. What a goal that would have been! The best accidental assist of the season.

4.29pm EST 16:29

71 min: More of that high-paced scrappy stuff. But no complaints. On the whole, this game has made for good viewing, barring the odd lull.

4.26pm EST 16:26

69 min: A second change for the Saints, as Redmond comes on for Walcott.

4.26pm EST 16:26

68 min: March does something down the inside left. Was it a shot? An attempt at a cross? Not sure, but he falls over and shanks the ball out of play. Brighton are looking lively again.

4.24pm EST 16:24

66 min: A glorious pass down the right by Gross for Lamptey, who scampers upfield, enters the box, and tries to tee up Maupay. No good. He gets the ball back and tees up Gross, arriving late, instead. Gross leans back and his effort is nominative determinism at its very best.

4.22pm EST 16:22

64 min: Graham Potter has seen enough, and replaces the very quiet Connolly with their leading scorer Neal Maupay.

4.21pm EST 16:21

63 min: Walcott plays a clever ball down the inside-left channel. Ings is uncharacteristically on the back foot, and can’t get there before Ryan smothers. Saints are coming back into this now, finally getting a few things going up front.

4.20pm EST 16:20

62 min: Corner for Saints out on the left, Romeu orchestrating a period of pressure. Ryan flaps at Ward-Prowse’s delivery. Armstrong sends it back in from the right. Ryan claims well this time.

4.19pm EST 16:19

61 min: There’s not a whole load going on right now. Saints will be slightly happier, you’d have thought, having dampened Brighton’s early second-half fire.

Updated at 4.19pm EST

4.17pm EST 16:17

59 min: Armstrong bursts down the right, sent away by Ings. He sprays wide left for Walcott, who takes a touch inside, reaches the edge of the D, and curls powerfully towards the top right. It would have been a picture-book goal … but it’s a few inches wide. Not sure whether Ryan would have got to that.

4.16pm EST 16:16

58 min: Some high-paced nonsense. Sequences of more than two passes are at a premium right now. Both teams battling hard.

4.14pm EST 16:14

56 min: Dunk goes in the book for sliding in late on Adams. Over-zealous would be the best way to describe it. Happily not much in the way of contact. He can have no complaints.

4.13pm EST 16:13

55 min: It’s been all Brighton since the restart. Saints haven’t got Ings into the game yet.

4.12pm EST 16:12

53 min: March crosses from the left. Saints half clear. Bissouma takes a speculative shot. It’s heading wide left, but Welbeck tries to deflect it goalwards. It loops up instead. He’d have been able to take a second poke at the ball had the offside Connolly not got in his way, and McCarthy comes out to claim.

4.10pm EST 16:10

52 min: A worrying moment for Welbeck who is down clutching his shoulder in a lot of pain. He took a hefty – but fair – whack in a 50-50 with Bednarek. Happily he’s up again soon enough, albeit with a grimace creasing his brow.

4.09pm EST 16:09

51 min: Gross latches onto a ball down the inside-left channel and hooks towards the right for Lamptey, who tries to round an over-excited McCarthy, rushing from his line. Lamptey runs the ball out of play, much to the keeper’s relief.

4.07pm EST 16:07

50 min: Vestergaard summons his inner Beckenbauer, dribbling past a couple of challenges down the left and slipping the ball on for Walcott, whose cross is no good and easily claimed by Ryan. Lovely run by the Saints central defender.

4.06pm EST 16:06

48 min: Gross swings the free kick in from the right. Ings gets in ahead of Webster, heading over the bar. No corner, though, because Webster is adjudged, somewhat harshly, to have bowled Ings to the ground as the pair tussled in the air.

4.04pm EST 16:04

47 min: A poor touch in the midfield from Romeu allows Connolly, Gross and March to stream forward. Romeu tries to make amends, chasing back, but clips Gross on the ankle, conceding a free kick 25 yards out, and going into the book.

4.02pm EST 16:02

Brighton get the second half underway. A couple of strange sequences could end tonight. The hosts haven’t won a game in front of their own fans since last December, when they beat Bournemouth 2-0. Saints meanwhile haven’t won on a Monday night since 2002. If this ends in a draw, forget I said anything. But Saints are looking for the win: they’ve sent on Ings in place of Djenepo.

3.47pm EST 15:47

HALF TIME: Brighton 1-1 Southampton

Brighton were the better team in the first 45, but they failed to challenge Vestergaard at the corner and have paid the price. Nicely set up for the second half!

Ryan is beaten by the header from Vestergaard. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated at 4.10pm EST

3.46pm EST 15:46

GOAL! Brighton 1-1 Southampton (Vestergaard 45)

Saints haven’t shown in attack all evening, but they’ll go in level! Armstrong wins a corner out on the right. The set piece is swung in and met by a towering header from Vestergaard, who slams the ball into the top left, giving Ryan no chance.

Southampton’s Jannik Vestergaard heads in powerfully for the equaliser. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated at 3.54pm EST

3.44pm EST 15:44

43 min: Welbeck wins a ball that was never his and sends Connolly whistling down the left. Welbeck keeps going, reaches the area, and cocks his leg back with a view to meeting Connolly’s cross and slamming home from six yards … but Vestergaard hoicks clear just in time.

3.43pm EST 15:43

42 min: A lovely spin on the right touchline by Armstrong. He tippy-toes along the tightrope, exchanging a crisp one-two with Walcott, but then tries one trick too many and runs into trouble. Shame, because that was delightful skill.

3.41pm EST 15:41

40 min: Having said all that, Saints are improving a little, albeit from a low base. Walcott dribbles down the inside-right channel and drags a weak shot across the face of goal. On the touchline, Graham Potter performs the internationally recognised mime for Put Some Bloody Effort Into It.