Despite being held by a determined Southampton, Brighton finishes second.

Despite being held by a determined Southampton, Brighton finishes second.

Despite losing to bottom-place Southampton at home, Brighton & Hove Albion moved up to second place in the Premier League standings.

Halfway through the first half, Kaoru Mitoma put Brighton ahead by taking advantage of the feeble Saints defense.

Brighton would have trailed leaders Liverpool by six points if they had won. But they were held back when Flynn Downes scored just before the hour.

Rather, they have a better head-to-head record than Manchester City. But they are tied for second place on points. Goal differential, and goals scored.

Shortly after Downes’ goal, Southampton believed they had grabbed the lead via Cameron Archer. But teammate Adam Armstrong was disallowed for Despite being held by a questionable. Offside after he was found to have been interfering with play.

With only five points from 13 games, Southampton is still at the bottom of the table.

Despite Southampton’s repeated attempts to play out from the back, Brighton dominated the first half of Friday night’s play.

On 16 minutes, Georginio Rutter came within inches of giving. Brighton the lead as he cut in from the right and hit the post with his left-footed effort.

And they did lead when Tariq Lamptey – making his first league start of an injury-inflicted season – crossed from the right.

Jack Stephens missed his header and the ball was allowed to bounce through to Mitoma. Who avoided marker Yukinari Sugawara to head home.

However, Brighton was penalized for not pressing their advantage as Downes. Scored from 16 yards out after Armstrong’s blocked attempt dropped perfectly.

A contentious VAR call denied the Saints victory.

Southampton believed they should have won all three. Points but were disqualified under dubious circumstances. Southampton have lost their last nine away league games.

The Saints’ bright spot in the league started a brilliant team play in midfield that seemed to have put them ahead 2-1.

And Archer on the far side tucked home his cross from the left. Which had gone behind Armstrong at the near post.

After more than four minutes of a protracted visual assistant referee (VAR) check. It was decided that Armstrong, who was off. Had flicked his heel towards the cross and was so interfering with play, even though Archer was just barely onside.

As a result, Southampton was deprived of their second league victory of the year, however they were somewhat to blame.

But far too frequently this resulted in pointless crosses and set pieces that were repeatedly kicked into the Brighton area.

And Archer’s brilliant attempt from eight yards out missed Southampton’s best first-half opportunity.

Brighton fails the audition for the championship contender.

Brighton seemed to have the ideal chance to show that they should be included in the title chase if. Manchester City and Chelsea are still regarded as contenders.

The team led by Fabian Hurzeler has been playing well and has a promising schedule ahead of them.

The Seagulls do not play a team in the top seven of the Premier League in December. On December 30, eighth-place Aston Villa will be their top-ranked opponents.

Brighton will lose, though. If they are unable to defeat a squad that has not lost on the road until now after stunning victories over opponents like Manchester City.

They do have players regaining their fitness and form. It is good to see Lamptey back at right-back for the first time since October. And the Ghanaian international was vivacious.

On his first start in a Premier League midfield since joining from Celtic in the summer. Matt O’Riley looked comfortable, and center-back Lewis Dunk was also healthy enough to sit on the bench.

However, Brighton lost two points here when attackers Danny Welbeck and Joao Pedro. Who have both been excellent in recent weeks, fell short.