Neal the saviour at St Mary’s: Photos from Southampton 1-1 Brighton
Photos from a Saturday 3pm kick off might seem alien to Albion fans – but Neal Maupay last minute equalisers do not as for the second time in 72 hours, the French striker rescued a point for Brighton with a late intervention, this time in a 1-1 draw at Southampton.
On Wednesday night, Maupay struck in the 89th minute as the Seagulls stunned West Ham to draw 1-1. At St Mary’s, he left it until the 98th minute to earn Brighton a share of the spoils with a goal that showed the footballing intelligence we know he has alongside the sort of clinical finish that is often missing from his game.
The drama came about when Brighton were awarded a free kick in a promising position. The situation was made even more promising by Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy being injured and unable to dive, resulting in him calling James Ward-Prowse back to cover the left side of the goal.
Maupay spotted Ward-Prowse dropping and stole himself five extra yards, knowing that he could not be offside. When Jakub Moder then volleyed into the box after his initial free kick had crashed into the wall, Maupay was completely unmarked and undoubtedly onside.
He took a touch, turned and buried an effort into the bottom corner. Cue delirium in the away end, captain-for-the-day Shane Duffy losing his mind, Maupay celebrating in front of the Southampton fans and a strong reprimand for McCarthy from Saints boss Ralf Hasenhuttl.
When the full time whistle blew a couple of minutes later, no Brighton supporter cared that drawing 1-1 equalled the Albion’s longest winless run in the top flight of 10 games.
Once again, the euphoria of a Maupay equaliser right at the death made this feel like a victory. Merci, Le Petit Shithouse Français.
If you have any photos you would like included our Southampton 1-1 Brighton gallery, please e-mail them to wearebrighton@hotmail.co.uk or tweet them to us @wearebrighton
