Danny Ings strikes again to earn point for Southampton against Brighton
When Danny Ings is ravenous, he is nigh on impossible to stop. Ings had a goal disallowed and rattled a post here before netting his 20th league goal of the season to earn Southampton a draw, becoming the first Southampton player to reach that landmark since James Beattie in 2003 and keeping alive his chances of winning the Golden Boot. For Brighton, who took the lead through Neal Maupay, this point all but guarantees their top-flight status for another season.
Ings finished clinically midway through the second half but both teams could have snatched victory through unlikely sources, Yves Bissouma blasting wide after Mat Ryan made a fingertip save to prevent Jannik Vestergaard’s piledriver from finding the top corner.
As Ralph Hasenhüttl acknowledged, Southampton were regrettably sluggish out of the blocks but returned reinvigorated after the introduction of Ché Adams and Kyle Walker-Peters at the interval. “Disaster first half, very good second half,” Hasenhüttl said. “In the end I think we made the right changes at half-time. You don’t deserve more when you start like this, we were a little bit slow in our minds.”
Whereas Brighton appeared reinvigorated after making six changes, Southampton’s introduction of five new faces led to a disjointed and muddled first-half display, which Maupay seized on. Glenn Murray cutely flicked on Tariq Lamptey’s long throw and Maupay punished some slack Southampton defending, darting between Vestergaard and Jan Bednarek to fire home. It was a sharp finish, his 10th goal of the season, a milestone that puts him in good company, becoming the sixth French player to reach that tally in his debut season in the Premier League, following in the footsteps of Eric Cantona and Thierry Henry.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, who was stripped of the captaincy last month and is the subject of interest from Everton and Tottenham, reverted to midfield after an awkward first half at right-back and Southampton slowly asserted their authority, with Jake Vokins striking narrowly wide on his Premier League debut. Lewis Dunk made a miraculous goal-saving block to stop Adams smacking in a rebound after an Ings shot rattled the woodwork, and Brighton were guilty of retreating deeper and inviting a swell of Southampton pressure, which eventually told when Ings bared his teeth. “It would have been a bit unjust if we had nicked the win,” said Graham Potter, the Brighton manager.