Southampton rescue draw against Newcastle thanks to Manolo Gabbiadini brace

Manolo Gabbiadini scored twice to rescue a point for Southampton against Newcastle United on Sunday (15 October), as the Saints moved up to tenth in the table but remained without a Premier League win in four games.

The Italian, who had scored once in his last 14 league appearances and was making his first start in over a month, converted a penalty with 15 minutes left after Florian Lejeune had recklessly fouled Shane Long in the box to earn his side a 2-2 draw.

Gabbiadini had already pegged Newcastle back earlier in the second half, when his left-footed effort found its way past Robert Elliot and into the bottom corner after some neat work in the box. Southampton's joy, however, proved to be short-lived as Newcastle went ahead again within two minutes, after Ayoze Perez capitalised on a mistake by Saints' goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

The England international could only parry Perez's first effort back into the Spaniard's path, allowing the Newcastle midfielder to rifle home from close range. Forster should have probably saved Perez's second attempt, as it came from a very acute angle near the by-line and should have definitely dealt better with the Spaniard's first effort.

Perez had already gone close to double his side's lead just minutes before Southampton's first goal, only to be denied by the bar.

Newcastle, who were lucky not to have a man sent off when DeAndre Yedlin lunged into a needless tackle against Nathan Redmond but somehow avoided a second yellow card, had taken the lead halfway through the first half thanks to a goal from Isaac Hayden.

The midfielder scored his maiden Premier League goal with a lovely effort from 20 yards out, which left Forster no chance. Earlier, Southampton had gone close to opening the scoring themselves, as Dusan Tadic squandered a glorious opportunity, before Virgil Van Dijk, making his first home appearance since January, went close to equalise but his header drifted wide.

The result leaves Newcastle in ninth position, with Southampton, who had failed to score in eight of their last nine games at St Mary's, just two points behind them.

"At least we get a point and the team showed we finished with ambition," Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez told Sky Sports.

"We gave them the chance to score with the penalty. We did well, but still conceded two goals, so something was wrong.

"We have to work hard, keep improving. We can be better and we have to be better, and hopefully we will be better. We have to defend better, attack better and keep the ball better."

In Sunday's other fixture, Everton needed a last minute penalty from Wayne Rooney to rescue a point away at Brighton.

In a game of very little quality, the host looked to have won the match as they went ahead after 83 minutes thanks to Anthony Knockaert's first ever Premier League goal. However, Brighton's hopes of securing a third consecutive win at home were extinguished when their captain, Bruno, was penalised for elbowing Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the box following a corner from Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Rooney sent Mathew Ryan the wrong way from the spot to score his third league goal of the campaign and earn his side a point, which will do little to ease the pressure on Ronald Koeman. The Dutchman has been widely criticised for his side's style of play and poor performances so far this season and while he avoided what would have been a fifth defeat in eight league games, the Toffees were again largely unconvincing.

The result leaves both sides on eight points, alongside Swansea City, West Ham and Stoke City, and only three points clear of the relegation zone, although Leicester City, which are currently third from bottom, have a game in hand.