Danny Ings penalty leaves Brighton unhappy as Southampton go fifth
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Perhaps it was in the script that Danny Ings would come back to make the difference for Southampton, but Brighton are mightily unimpressed that he did. This game was drifting towards an uneventful close, with Jannik Vestergaard having cancelled out a Pascal Gross penalty, when Solly March illegally halted Kyle Walker-Peters’s surge towards the box 13 minutes from time.
David Coote awarded a free-kick but, after a lengthy VAR review, the decision was upgraded to a penalty. If Walker-Peters had indeed been inside the area it did not look a clear and obvious error, but the substitute Ings was in no mood to fret and duly sent Saints into fifth place.
Brighton had already given their fans a taste of football in the Covid-19 world, letting 2,500 in for a friendly against Chelsea in August, but their players were no less hungrily received for that. A temperature slightly above freezing point was good enough reason to keep things boisterous among those who had returned to watch top-flight football for the first time since February and their team appeared of similar mind.
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Within three minutes Danny Welbeck had sent March away on the left, sprinting 60 yards to keep pace with his colleague. It meant he was perfectly placed to meet March’s eventual cutback but his attempt at a sidefooted finish was too close to Alex McCarthy.
That was an exhilarating passage of play, but Brighton should have taken the lead through more rudimentary means. A deep right-sided free-kick from Gross found Southampton’s offside line over-eager, leaving Lewis Dunk unmarked as they pushed out. He had timed his run well, but the same could not be said for his header, which sailed well over.
There was no faulting the tempo, and certainly little secret of both sides’ appetite to fashion early switches to the flanks. It was Brighton, though, who continued to offer the threat and a Welbeck-led break brought the suggestion of an opening for Aaron Connolly, who could not quite fashion space for a shot.
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The cumulative effect was that Brighton deserved the lead when it came. The penalty award was scrappy, Welbeck taking a hooked March pass on his chest and seeing James Ward-Prowse, challenging at close quarters, make clear contact with the ball using an outstretched hand as it looped over their heads.
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There was no serious doubt about Coote’s decision, despite Southampton’s protestations, and Gross dummied before sending McCarthy the wrong way.
Ward-Prowse was soon back in his own box again to defend a rapid break from Tariq Lamptey, whose cross struck the midfielder’s chest. It was a diligent piece of defensive work, but he would make full amends a minute before the interval.
Southampton had looked uncharacteristically flat, but one of their better moves brought a corner on the right and, given the identity of the taker, the genuine possibility of a goalscoring chance. Ward-Prowse’s outswinger was met in perfect sync by the leaping Vestergaard in a move the two had trailled at Aston Villa last month; the ball flew across Mat Ryan and Brighton could feel hard done by.
It was not enough to persuade Ralph Hasenhüttl that Saints had rediscovered their cutting edge. He brought on Ings, who had missed three games after injuring his knee against Villa, at half-time in place of the anonymous Moussa Djenepo and moved Theo Walcott to the left wing.
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Initially, Brighton remained the slicker, even if chances were less frequent now. Lamptey, an electric presence on the right, almost found one when McCarthy rushed out to confront him at an angle but ran out of space.
When Southampton finally produced an incisive break just before the hour, it brought their first moment of serious danger from open play. Ings’s clever flick unlocked space for Stuart Armstrong to find Walcott, who was faced with a defender but curled just wide from 20 yards.
It had become a game that might be decided by one moment of magic and Graham Potter mimicked his counterpart by bringing on his own top scorer, Neal Maupay, in the hope Brighton might find one of their own. Gross immediately had half a chance to break the spell after persistent work from Lamptey, but shot too high.
Deft juggling from Ings brought a chance for Nathan Redmond, who had recently come on, but his effort was wayward.
The game was stuttering but then Ings received his chance and Brighton were left fuming.