Premier Soccer League

Everton 1 – 1 Southampton

Everton, Southampton play a 1 all draw. Saints had the better chances and captain James Ward-Prowse fired a penalty against the crossbar after he was fouled by Andre Gomes. Danny Ings continued his good goalscoring season as Southampton drew at Everton in an entertaining mid-table Premier League match.

Ings opened the scoring with a clever finish after latching on to a misplaced shot from Stuart Armstrong – who had earlier had a goal disallowed for offside. Richarlison equalised against the run of play from Lucas Digne‘s wonderful 40-yard cross-field ball.

The Saints could have gone down to 10 men when Jan Bednarek fouled Richarlison on the edge of the area but he stayed on the pitch after a video assistant referee consultation. Everton and Southampton – who both had spells in the relegation zone before Christmas – remain 11th and 12th respectively, safe from relegation but unlikely to threaten the European places.

Ings impresses again for Saints

Ings – the joint-third top scorer in the Premier League – had another fine performance up front for Southampton and was involved in most of their best moves. His cross was turned across goal by Che Adams to Armstrong, whose hooked shot was ruled out for offside. The former Liverpool striker then went close to giving the Saints the lead when his header was tipped on to the crossbar by Jordan Pickford.

Ings, whose form will surely revive his one-cap England career, also created chances for Ward-Prowse and Adams, whose shots were blocked. They will probably wish he had taken the penalty when Gomes brought down Ward-Prowse. But the Saints captain stepped up himself and blasted the ball off the bar, making him only the second player to miss two Premier League penalties this season.

But Ings got his goal when he cleverly used his right foot to take the ball past Pickford from Armstrong’s scuffed effort before slotting home with his left foot.

Ings has now scored in five different Premier League games against Everton, without winning any of them. But his 19th league goal of the season means only Saints legend Matt le Tissier (25) and James Beattie (23) have ever scored more Premier League goals in a season for the club.

The Saints – who had 17 shots – should have put the game to bed before Everton’s comeback. They were not as impressive after that, with Adams’ saved shot from a clever Ings backheel seconds after the restart their only effort on target in the second half.

Source – BBC News

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