SOUTHAMPTON: Brig­hton & Hove Albion’s Glenn Murray converted a 90th-minute penalty to snatch a 2-2 draw at south-coast rivals Southampton after they fought back from two goals down in a pulsating Premier League clash on Monday.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg gave Saints the lead at St Mary’s with a stunning long-range effort 10 minutes before half-time and a penalty from Danny Ings midway through the second half appeared to put Southampton on course for successive league wins for the first time since April 2017.

But two minutes later Brighton pulled a goal back through Shane Duffy’s header and the Seagulls were level in the 91st minute when Murray scored from the penalty spot for his fourth goal of the season after Duffy was fouled by Southampton substitute James Ward-Prose.

The result left Southampton in 13th place, one spot above Brighton who also have five points from as many games after their late pressure paid dividends.

Murray, who blasted his spot-kick past goalkeeper Alex McCarthy as the Seagulls scored their first away goals of the season, acknowledged they were fortunate to avoid defeat.

“After the way we performed in the first half we got away with one,” the striker told Sky Sports. “We were very poor and were under par. The second half was a different game. We put them under pressure and got our reward at the end.”

It was the second game in a row where Brighton had come from 2-0 down to share the points following a 2-2 draw with Fulham.

“It’s the second game we’ve come back from 2-0 down,” Brighton manager Chris Hughton told Sky Sports. “You have to look at the character but also some of the frailties that put us in that position in the first place, credit to the lads they responded well.”

Reflecting on the equaliser, Hughton added: “At 2-1 down away from home and a penalty, you’re not going to get a cooler head than Glenn Murray.”

This was the third straight league draw between Southampton and Brighton.

“We’re disappointed with the award of the penalty,” said Southampton manager Mark Hughes. “Shane Duffy is a big lad and he’s gone down easily under an innocuous challenge. They will look for anything they can get and the referee has bought that.”

Meanwhile any pleasure Hojbjerg felt in scoring a brilliant goal was outweighed by his frustration in seeing Saints squander a 2-0 lead.

“It’s not good enough,” he insisted. “If you want to be serious and a contender you cannot let games like this go. It’s nice to make a good goal like this but I want to win, that’s all that matters.

“We have to look forward and take the positives out of the game and learn from the less positive things. Maybe there’s a hangover from [the relegation battle] last season, a nervousness. Maybe we need to get that out of the system.”

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2018