Russell Martin was right. The very last thing anyone wanted to do on a freezing evening was to spend more time out in the cold than necessary. Clearly VAR did not get the memo.
Four minutes and 27 seconds. Not the amount of injury time played at the end of a thoroughly entertaining game but the time it took VAR to rule out what looked like Cameron Archer’s winner for Southampton.
It would have topped off a remarkable comeback from the league’s bottom club. When they fell behind in the first half to Kaoru Mitoma’s header, you couldn’t help but fear the worst.
But, led by their 18-year-old winger Tyler Dibling, the Saints hit back as Flynn Downes slammed the ball past Bart Verbruggen.
And now to the fiercest flashpoint in a game that wasn’t short of them as substitute Ryan Fraser crossed for Archer, who finished emphatically.
Though the decision on the field was off-side, it was time for the folks at Stockley Park to get out the magnifying glasses.
Flynn Downes rescued a point for Southampton, who remain rooted to the foot of the table
The Saints midfielder got on the scoresheet in the Premier League for the first time just before the hour
Kaoru Mitoma opened the scoring for the home side with a bullet header past Joe Lumley
They deemed that Archer was, in fact, on-side but believed Armstrong, who had also made a run into the box, was not and had interfered sufficiently enough with play.
Saints goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale – who missed the game through injury – couldn’t hide his disbelief. ‘You can not be serious,’ he posted on X, formerly Twitter. His manager concurred.
‘This is my problem with VAR,’ he said. ‘The guys on the pitch, the referees and assistants, have such a difficult job. I wouldn’t do it. It’s crazy. It’s so difficult but I could understand why they might give it in the heat of the moment.
‘The point of VAR, I thought, was to take out the subjectivity and make it really clear. Does he (Verbruggen) move because of Adam Armstorng? He doesn’t.
‘We spend four or five minutes all waiting in the stadium, it’s cold, the tensions are high and then that decision gets given.’
Tensions between both benches threatened to boil over at full-time too. Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler appeared to accuse Martin of lacking respect, saying: ‘How you talk to each other (on the touchline) is so important and that’s how I’ve been educated.’ ‘Respect is reciprocal,’ was Martin’s response.
It is Martin, though, who will be happier with a point from a game they had started under the pump.
They almost gifted Brighton an early opener when full-back Yukinari Sugawara should have made a routine clearance, especially with Brighton’s electric winger Mitoma breathing down his neck. Mitoma won the ball but was unable to find the goal his persistence deserved, curling narrowly wide.
Brighton were in complete control during a first period in which Mitoma gave them a deserved lead
Cameron Archer thought he had put Southampton ahead late on after converting from close range from a Ryan Fraser cross
But the visitors were denied by VAR, who decided that Adam Armstrong, in an offside position, had interfered with play
Though Cameron Archer (pink top, bottom) was judged to have been onside, it was Armstrong (pink top, middle) who was ruled to have been in an offside position
Armstrong attempted to play the ball before it eventually arrived at Archer’s feet
Southampton’s second let-off followed not long after. This time Georginio Rutter dispossessed Ryan Manning with ease and waltzed his way across the edge of the Saints’ box before firing wide. Moments later Rutter went even closer, striking the foot of the post with a left-footed strike from inside the box.
Lumley is Southampton’s fourth-choice goalkeeper, only getting the nod to make his first Premier League start with his three contemporaries, Ramsdale, Gavin Bazunu and Alex McCarthy, all injured. Soon his hopes of a clean sheet to mark the occasion were dashed.
Tariq Lamptey swung a ball that bounced wickedly in front of the onrushing Mitoma into Lumley’s area. Mitoma, though, watched the ball all the way onto his forehead before it flew past the helpless Lumley.
Archer should have equalised for the Saints on the cusp of half-time but was unable to keep his side-footed effort down from a Sugawara cross.
Just as the hosts looked to be slipping into cruise control after half-time, they hit a bump in the road.
A terrific run forward by Dibling twice created shooting opportunities for Armstrong. He saw both shots blocked but the ball dropped to Downes, a tad fortunate to still be on the pitch after committing a series of fouls after being booked, who slammed past Verbruggen. Downes was roundly booed after being replaced moments later.
That goal helped to turn the tide of the match, so much so that Archer thought he had put the visitors ahead shortly after. The three points were cruelly snatched from his side, though, by a contentious call we will continue to debate all weekend.
