Southampton’s improvement under Ralph Hasenhüttl is real: they were good value against fellow strugglers Burnley and less than a minute from gaining victory, only to be denied by a last-gasp mistake that presented the home side with their first penalty in more than a season.
That was only poetic justice, for Sean Dyche’s penalty paranoia raged anew in the first half when Alex McCarthy brought down Ashley Barnes as he tried to reach Phil Bardsley’s long ball. It looked like the long wait might be over and Burnley would have the chance to go in front, yet instead Anthony Taylor booked the Burnley striker for simulation, which was hard to understand as the contact was obvious and McCarthy failed to reach the ball.
“It was as clear a penalty as you will ever see,” the Burnley manager said. “And he fell naturally.”
Matters were made even worse when Southampton deservedly took a second-half lead and looked like holding on to it until Jack Stephens handled in stoppage time when attempting to clear from Ashley Westwood. The defender went for a header with his arm raised, the ball struck it and Barnes was as relieved as anyone to put away the penalty.
“A draw was fair, we are just disappointed to concede so late,” Hasenhüttl said. “We showed we are not easy to beat. With some young players we produced some good situations.”
Southampton made most of the early chances before Burnley missed a glorious opportunity when Dwight McNeil played in Chris Wood. The striker did the hard work by coolly dragging the ball back to strand Stephens and give himself a sight of goal, only to blaze wastefully high.
Then the moment of controversy arrived as Barnes was brought down and booked. That was harsh for although there was no intention to foul on the goalkeeper’s part he collided with his opponent, and to suggest Barnes imagined or invited contact was ridiculous.
At least Burnley ended the first half with a better share of the game, and might even have turned round ahead had Wood been able to reach Barnes’s volleyed cross across goal.
Wood did reach a cross early in the second half; unfortunately it was a Southampton corner and it took a goalline clearance from Bardsley to prevent an own goal.
The visitors had again started impressively and gained their reward when Nathan Redmond opened up Burnley through the middle, evading Jack Cork and taking advantage of James Tarkowksi’s hesitancy to beat Heaton from the edge of the area.
Inevitably, Dyche sent on Peter Crouch to try and rescue the game, just as he would have done with Sam Vokes before last week’s swap with Stoke. Crouch was immediately involved, using his height to help set up a close-range shooting chance for Barnes, who saw McCarthy make a smart reaction save.
Barnes was even unluckier in the closing minutes when his volley on the turn struck the crossbar. It looked like it was not going to be his day, but then Stephens put his hand up to help.
“I’m just glad we got the second penalty,” Dyche said. “If that had been turned down it would have been mental.”
