(Reuters) – A goal in each half from captain James Ward-Prowse helped Southampton to rescue a point at Brighton & Hove Albion with a 2-2 draw in an entertaining Premier League contest at the Amex Stadium on Sunday.
Brighton made a lightning start and led with two minutes on the clock through Danny Welbeck, who tapped into an empty net after visiting goalkeeper Fraser Forster fumbled Marc Cucurella’s low cross into the box.
With half-time approaching, Brighton’s Leandro Trossard drilled a ball towards Welbeck which was awkwardly prodded home by Southampton defender Mohammed Salisu into his own net, seemingly giving the visitors a mountain to climb.
Ward-Prowse single-handedly dragged Southampton back into the game late in the first half, whipping a trademark free-kick through the Brighton wall and past goalkeeper Robert Sanchez after Cucurella had fouled Nathan Tella.
Oriol Romeu backheeled a ball into the path of Ward-Prowse around 10 minutes into the second period, and the England midfielder fired straight into the far corner to bring Southampton level.
Brighton’s Pascal Gross had a goal disallowed for offside after a VAR check with some 10 minutes remaining and Southampton held on to deny the hosts their first home victory of the year.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
