Despite failing to find a win against bottom-place Southampton at home, Brighton and Hove Albion moved up to second place in the Premier League standings. Kaoru Mitoma took advantage of the Saints' weak defence to put Brighton ahead halfway through the first half. A win would have put Brighton six points behind leaders Liverpool, but they were held back by a goal from Flynn Downes just before the hour. Instead, they are tied with Manchester City on points, goal differential, and goals scored, but they have a better head-to-head record.
Shortly after Downes' goal, Southampton believed they had grabbed the lead via Cameron Archer, but teammate Adam Armstrong was disallowed for a questionable offside after he was found to have been interfering with play. With only five points from 13 games, Southampton is still at the bottom of the table. Despite Southampton's repeated attempts to play out from the back, Brighton dominated the first half of Friday night's play. On 16 minutes, Georginio Rutter came within inches of giving Brighton the lead as he cut in from the right and hit the post with his left-footed effort.
Premier League table after this result
Southampton is still at the bottom of the table, while Brighton overtake Man City with a better head-to-head record.
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