Southampton 1 Ipswich 1: Morsy scores in injury time to break Saints’ hearts as both sides still searching for first win
SAM MORSY rescued Ipswich a precious stoppage time point in this early relegation scrap with Southampton.
Tyler Dibling’s first goal in senior football almost presented Southampton with their first Premier League win of the season.
But skipper Morsy crashed home a sensational 95th minute, 25-yard equaliser which deflected off Joe Aribo and curled into the top corner.
Delighted Town boss Kieran McKenna said: “It was an enjoyable ending and on the balance of play I thought we deserved a point.
“And it was a great way to get it so late in the game away from home against a team fighting for their first win in from their fans that gave great energy in the stadium.
“We showed resilience to bounce back and it was great for our captain to get it in front of his supporters-it a big goal to score.”
A disconsolate Saints gaffer Russell Martin said: “My feelings are frustration, anger and disappointment and I’ve only watched their goal once and it made me feel sick.
“We should have put the game to bed-they had two shots in the 95th minute and they score from one of them.
“At that moment it’s about game management and we had too much anxiety in the team.
“We are getting better and better every game and we have to continue to progress and keep performing.” Southampton made four changes from the team thrashed 3-0 at home by Manchester United leaving star defender Kyle Walker-Peters on the bench.
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But the decision to give summer free-signing Adam Lallana his first Premier League start back in a Saints shirt paid dividends after just six minutes.
The former Brighton midfielder picked out the perfect through pass to Dibling who side-stepped Jacob Greaves to net with ease.
And it was not lost on the former academy player who was just nine months old when Lallana, 36, made his Saints debut in August 2006.
That was the worst start Ipswich would have wanted giving their winless hosts such an early psychological boost.
And it was so close to being 2-0 on 27 minutes when teenager Dibling picked out Cameron Archer.
Archer out-muscled two defenders, rounded goalkeeper Arijanet Muric but saw his shot hit the foot of the near post.
Town’s attack came alive just before the break when Dara O’Shea sent a header straight at Aaron Ramsdale, who then kept out a Leif Davis effort.
Then Ramsdale drew gasps of admiration in stoppage time when he twisted in mid-air to tip over a rasping 20-yard drive from Omari Hutchinson.
Archer came close again for the home side straight after half-time when he burst clear only to see his close-range toe poke strike Muric’s chest.
Then Sam Szmodics had the Tractor Boys travellers celebrating when they thought his shot had found the target-but the ball thumped the side-netting instead.
Tempers flared just after the hour when sub Jack Taylor took out Mateus Fernandez with a wild challenge.
Referee Sam Allison surprisingly chose to book Saints’ Flynn Downes and Town’s Delap after an eight-man shoving match ignoring Taylor’s original foul.
Ipswich looked doomed to defeat when Ramsdale tipped over George Hirst’s late header-but Morsy had other ideas.