Southampton Boss Pellegrino Bemoans 'Injustice' After Watford Grab Late Draw With Controversial Goal

Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has claimed his side suffered an "injustice" against Watford, as Abdoulaye Doucouré's late equaliser bundled into the back of the net off his hand. The Saints threw away a 2-0 half-time lead, after a James Ward-Prowse double saw the visitors take the game by the scruff of the neck.

An Andre Gray header pulled a goal back for the Hornets midway through the second half, before Doucouré's last-gasp effort made it 2-2 and snatched a precious point for Marco Silva's men at the death. 

Speaking after the match, via Southampton's official website, Pellegrino expressed his outrage at the goal being allowed, claiming: "You want there to be justice for everyone, but today was an injustice for us.

"I thought we played a really good first half. We showed we can be dangerous in open play on the counter-attack, and in defence for most of the game we played well. 

"When you are winning 2-0, you expect your opponent to play very direct and it’s something that’s difficult to defend because maybe they are a little bit better than us in this aspect.

“You have to put an extra body in front of the back four, which means you have one less body in front of them. We did ok - most of the time we did well because I don’t remember many chances for Watford in the second half, just long balls and some crosses. But we didn’t have the good luck that you need to win.”

The Saints will look to put their frustrations behind them next week, as they look to stay out of the relegation zone with a positive result against Spurs at the St Mary's Stadium. 

The side's impressive counter-attacking football is bound to offer some hope to the fans, who remain on tenterhooks as their team now sit just one point away from the bottom three.