SOUTHAMPTON were denied victory against Brighton & Hove Albion last night, after yet another controversial VAR decision went against them.
Cameron Archer’s strike was ruled out after Adam Armstrong was adjudged offside, and interfering with Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
Even the Seagulls stopper admitted he was unsure why the goal was ruled out, after a four-and-a-half minute delay at the Amex Stadium.
It is not the first time Russell Martin and his Saints side have been on the wrong end of a VAR decision this season.
Matches against Arsenal, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Liverpool have all featured questionable calls that have left Southampton rooted to the bottom of the Premier League.
Arguably, Saints would feel they could have had seven extra points if decisions had gone their way, which would leave them in 15th place.
On October 5, with the game against Arsenal level at 1-1 after Archer’s equaliser, a deep cross into the Saints box saw Gabriel Martinelli steer the Gunners in front, before they added a third late on.
Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino looked like he attempted to head the ball, despite being in a clear offside position, prior to Martinelli putting the ball into the net.
It looked to be a subjective call but with a similar incident leading to Archer’s goal being chalked off last night, Martin will point to the inconsistencies of VAR’s decisions.
During Southampton’s next league match against Leicester, striker Paul Onuachu was hauled down in the penalty area, with the Saints appeals turned down.
Martin’s side went on to lose the game, as a 98th minute winner from Jordan Ayew, meant Saints were denied just their second point of the season.
The south-coast side’s trip to Wolves on November 9, saw a series of decisions go against Southampton, as the Midlands club recorded a 2-0 win at Molineux.
With Saints a goal behind early thanks to Pablo Sarabia’s second minute strike, the visitors thought they had an equaliser when Ryan Manning fired in.
Mateus Fernandes was ruled to have fouled Nelson Semedo moments before Manning scored – while that was not the end of Saints feeling hard done-by. If anything it looked like it was the Southampton midfielder who was fouled. Martin argued it had to either be a goal or a penalty to his side.
Wolves’ second goal from Matheus Cunha was given, despite there looking to be two fouls in the build-up by Santiago Bueno and Craig Dawson.
And when league leaders Liverpool came to St Mary’s last weekend, Southampton were again denied during their 3-2 defeat.
Martin’s side led 2-1 after an hour, but were not given a penalty when Armstrong was brought down by goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
Unsurprisingly, Mo Salah scored twice in the final 30 minutes to turn the game around and leave Saints rueing their luck again.
