Southampton boss Russell Martin and Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler faced off at the end of an ill-tempered, controversial 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium.
Both bosses accused each other of a lack of respect after a match in which Saints were denied a priceless win in the second half by a VAR decision.
Flynn Downes had just canceled out Kaoru Mitoma’s opener when Cameron Archer converted Saints substitute Ryan Fraser’s cross.
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Cameron Archer’s goal is disallowed after a lengthy VAR check as Southampton take on Brighton in the Premier League.
A check lasting more than four minutes finally ruled Archer onside, but then penalized Adam Armstrong, who was offside but did not touch the ball, for disrupting play.
The official explanation was that Armstrong was in an offside position and was “deemed to have an influence” on Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen’s ability to play the ball.
After thirteen minutes of extra time, in which Brighton player Simon Adingra hit a post, both benches gave each other some rest.
Southampton manager Russell Martin (left) and Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler were involved in an altercation at the whistle
The managers were also booked during the match; Hurzeler for brandishing an imaginary yellow card in the first half and Martin for his response to more protest from the Brighton boss after a foul from Downes, who was shown a yellow card and was probably lucky to still be on the pitch.
Asked about Downes not receiving a second yellow card, Hurzeler said: “That’s exactly what I said at half-time, and then he commits another foul.
“There’s no explanation for that and that changes the game. It changes the game in Bournemouth (when Baleba was sent off from Brighton) in the other direction.
“Today it could change the game in our direction, but you have to be very careful what you say here in England because also my yellow card is something that I cannot understand and I have to adapt to this.”
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Brighton’s match against Southampton in the Premier League
Asked about his full-time confrontation with Martin, the German said: “For me it is just important to have respect for each other.
“It is so important to respect each other, how you talk to each other on the sidelines. I think that is the most important thing and that is how I am trained.”
Martin was clearly unimpressed by his opponent’s antics.
“The manager decided to say something about respect,” he said. “I have never seen a manager who tries to sign so many players. Respect is mutual. It is mutual.”
Martin fumes at disallowed Archer goal
Martin was also unhappy with the decision to disallow Archer’s goal in the second half.
He told it Air sports: “I’m just tired of talking about decisions – I just don’t want to be that guy.
“I really respect how difficult the decision of the referee and the assistant referee is on the pitch, so I understand that they may be wrong because in the heat of the moment there is so much going on and it is really difficult, but I’m really struggling to accept that because the decision on the pitch carries a lot of weight and isn’t really clear and obvious, while I think it’s because I’ve been told that Adam Armstrong’s run had an influence. has on the goalkeeper.
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“I’ve seen it a lot and have had a few messages about it.
“We were told it affected Van Hecke’s ability to get the ball, which is not the case. The ball goes behind Adam and if Adam’s run had at all taken Verbruggen out of position to deal with Arma (Archer), it would have I understand the decision, but he didn’t. He didn’t move, the ball goes after Adam and I can’t see what consequences this has for the goalkeeper, really.
“He actually goes a step further than Adam, so for me, if I understand the game and play it a lot, the interpretation, and this is the point of VAR, I would prefer the guy to make a mistake on the pitch and then we can do that.” Afterwards it’s all no problem, but if they take that much time to look at it, in the same way we had a penalty decision against us on Sunday when we were 2-1 ahead (in the 3-2 defeat against Liverpool) with Adam Armstrong, which I still think is a punishment, and me and Howard (Webb) will argue about it for ages, whatever we have, this is a problem when you have that much time to look at it.
“The interpretation is still so subjective, so it is still a human error in my opinion because they look at it and make a mistake. The mistake is that it is not clear and obvious enough to correct even if what I say is right, what I think is, and people who have played the game probably understand it. Now it is not clear and obvious enough to correct, because the decision on the field carries weight , so it annoys me, as you probably can See, I’m frustrated, I think anyone would be, but I’m very happy with the performance and I’m very proud of my players.”
‘Minimal decision, but tough’
Ex-Brighton midfielder Steve Sidwell in conversation with Sky Sports:
“If you are a Southampton fan, staff or player you will be very disappointed.
“I understand what they say when it comes to Armstrong running and whatever his movement is, and it’s a movement where the ball is behind him so he’s trying to keep it back here. He knows he’s too far forward has run. try to reverse it.
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“If he gets any connection with that ball, it will affect Verburggen where he goes next. So Verbruggen is actually waiting there for some kind of connection from Armstrong so you can see his eyes there because he’s looking at the ball exactly when this one passes.” So it does influence Verbruggen’s decision-making, I expect until the very last moment, when the ball goes into the back of the net.”
Sky Sports’ Izzy Christensen:
“It’s an incredibly bitter pill to swallow for Southampton. I sympathize with them as this epitomizes the way they got back into the game.”
“There seemed to be a real hunger and energy in the way they played and we are talking about fine margins.
“Cameron Archer is offside but it’s Armstrong who is marginally offside and that’s why the decision was made that way but the ball is behind him and he makes an attempt to turn it back.
“It’s minimal, but it’s tough. It took a while for them to come to that decision and when you’re standing in the dressing room of Southampton now, it’s a bitter pill to swallow.”