Southampton boss Russell Martin and Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler squared up to each other at the end of a bad-tempered, controversial 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium.
Both bosses accused each other of a lack of respect following a match which saw Saints denied a priceless victory by a VAR decision in the second half.
Flynn Downes had just cancelled out Kaoru Mitoma’s opener when Cameron Archer converted a cross from Saints substitute Ryan Fraser.
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Cameron Archer’s goal is chalked off after a lengthy VAR check as Southampton face Brighton in the Premier League.
A check of more than four minutes eventually decided Archer was onside but then penalised Adam Armstrong, who was offside but did not touch the ball, for interfering with play.
The official explanation was that Armstrong was in an offside position and “deemed to be impacting” Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen’s ability to play the ball.
After 13 minutes of added time, during which Brighton’s Simon Adingra hit a post, both benches gave each other a piece of their mind.
Southampton manager Russell Martin (left) and Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler were involved in an altercation at the full-time whistle
The managers had also been booked during the match; Hurzeler for waving an imaginary yellow card in the first half and Martin for his reaction to more protesting from the Brighton boss after a foul by Downes, who was on a yellow card and probably lucky to still be on the pitch.
Questioned about Downes not receiving a second yellow, Hurzeler said: “That’s exactly what I said at half-time and then he makes another foul.
“There’s no explanation for that and that’s something that changes the game. It changes the game in Bournemouth [when Brighton’s Baleba was sent off], 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 can’t understand and I have to adapt to this here.”
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Brighton’s match against Southampton in the Premier League
Asked about his confrontation with Martin at full-time, the German said: “For me, it’s just important to have respect for each other.
“It’s so important to respect each other, how you talk to each other on the sideline, I think that’s the most important and that’s how I get educated.”
Martin was clearly unimpressed with his opposite number’s touchline antics.
“The manager decided to say something about respect,” he said. “I’ve never known a manager try to get as many players booked as that. Respect is reciprocal. It’s mutual.”
Martin fumes at disallowed Archer goal
Martin was also unhappy at the decision to disallow Archer’s second-half goal.
He told Sky Sports: “I’m just fed up with talking about decisions – I just don’t want to be that guy.
“I really respect how difficult the referee and assistant referee’s decision is on the pitch so I understand they may be getting it wrong because in the heat of the moment there’s so much going on and it’s really difficult, but then I really struggle to accept that because the on-pitch decision holds a lot of weight and it’s not really clear and obvious, when I think it is because I’ve been told Adam Armstrong’s run affects the goalkeeper.
“I’ve seen it a lot already and I’ve had a few messages about it as well.
“We were told it was affecting Van Hecke’s ability to get the ball which it doesn’t. The ball goes behind Adam and if Adam’s run had moved Verbruggen at all from his position to deal with Arma (Archer), I would understand the decision but he hasn’t. He hasn’t moved, the ball goes behind Adam and I can’t see how it’s affected the goalkeeper, I really can’t.
“He actually takes a step this way away from Adam so for me, in understanding the game and playing it a lot, the interpretation, and this is the point of VAR, I would rather the guy makes a mistake on the pitch and we can all go no problem afterwards but when they take so much time to look at it, in the same way we had a penalty decision against us on Sunday at 2-1 up [in the 3-2 defeat to Liverpool] with Adam Armstrong, which I still think is a penalty, and me and Howard (Webb) will argue for ages about it, which we have, this is like a problem when you have so much time to look at it.
“The interpretation is so subjective still, so it’s still human error in my opinion because they watch it and they make a mistake. Now the mistake is it’s not clear and obvious enough to correct so even if what I’m saying is right, which I think it is, and people who have played the game probably understand it, now it’s not clear and obvious enough to correct because the on-field decision carries weight so I’m annoyed about it as you can probably tell. I’m frustrated, I think anyone would be but I’m really happy with the performance and I’m really proud of my players.”
‘Minimal decision but it’s harsh’
Ex-Brighton midfielder Steve Sidwell speaking to Sky Sports:
“If you’re a Southampton fan, staff or a player you’d be very disappointed.
“I get what they’re saying in terms of Armstrong’s making a run and whatever his motion is, and it’s a motion where the ball is behind him, so he’s trying to backheel it here, he knows he’s run too far in front, he’s trying to backheel it.
“If he does get any connection to that ball it will impact Verburggen of where he then goes. So Verbruggen is actually waiting for some kind of connection from Armstrong there so you can see his eyes there because he’s watching the ball exactly when it goes by so it does impact Verbruggen’s decision-making I expect until the very, very end when the ball goes in the back of the net.”
Sky Sports’ Izzy Christensen:
“It’s an incredibly bitter pill to swallow for Southampton. I do feel for them because this epitomises the way they got back into the game.
“There seemed to be a real hunger and energy about the way they played and we’re talking fine margins.
“Cameron Archer’s onside but it’s Armstrong who’s marginally offside and that’s why the decision has been given that way, but the ball’s behind him and he makes an attempt to try and backheel it.
“It’s minimal but it’s harsh. It took them a while to get to that decision and if you’re in that Southampton dressing room right now it’s a bitter pill.”