Downes equaliser sees Southampton earn second draw of season vs Brighton

Flynn Downes’ second-half equaliser saw Southampton pick up their second draw of the campaign on the road against Brighton on Friday night.

Karou Mitoma bagged his second goal in as many games to put the hosts in front after half an hour at the Amex, latching onto Tariq Lamptey’s delivery and heading home in style.

15 minutes into the restart, a bit of untidy defending from the hosts gave Flynn Downes the chance to level the scores with a clever strike from the penalty area to get Southampton back in business.

The visitors thought they were in front with 20 minutes to play when Cameron Archer tapped home from close range but VAR intervened to spoil the travelling party and the goal was ruled out after a lengthy check.

Brighton failed to build on two consecutive league wins over Manchester City and Bournemouth, dropping points to the side who sit rock bottom of the league table after 13 games with just five points to their name.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Fabian Hurzeler’s side however, as the Seagulls moved into third place – one point ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal who both have a game in hand with the opportunity to move back in front this weekend.

WATCH: Brighton 1-1 Southampton Highlights

Southampton appear doomed for relegation despite promising performance

There are certainly a number of positives to take for Southampton, who will feel they were hard done by and should’ve walked away with a valuable three points.

According to the best football betting sites, the Saints are priced at 1/7 to drop back down into the Championship at the end of the season and it’s fair to say it would take a miracle to turn this ship around.

As for Brighton, odds of 6/1 to finish in the Champions League places are a testament to how far this club has come in recent years and such a feat is certainly within touching distance.