Manolo Gabbiadini double earns Southampton draw in frantic second half with Newcastle

Southampton 2 Newcastle 2: Saints twice came from behind at St Mary's

Gabbiandini thumped home his second from the penalty spot (Getty)

Before this thrilling 2-2 draw, Mauricio Pellegrino conceded he was looking forward to inviting his old mentor Rafa Benitez “for a coke after the game”.

But after watching the defensive horror show that ensued, both men could be forgiven for reaching for something a little stronger. Southampton twice fell behind before Manolo Gabbiadini twice bailed them out of trouble, with both defences stumbling around like drunks for much of this haphazard mid-table clash.

Defensive errors were to blame for all four of the goals. Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster had a game to forget in goal for the home side and should have prevented both Isaac Hayden and Ayoze Perez from hitting the back of the net, while Gabbiadini was criminally allowed to dribble the ball around virtually Newcastle’s entire defence for his first before Shane Long won the soft penalty that lead to his second.

Hayden's effort gave Newcastle the lead (Getty)

“We are disappointed because we could have won, but at the same time we are happy with taking a point away,” Benitez said later. “It was a pity not to send the fans home with a win after such a long trip, but overall it was a good performance and I am happy with the team.”

Both sides spurned good opportunities to open the scoring before two of Southampton’s most highly-prized players, Forster and Virgil van Dijk, combined to help Newcastle get off the mark.

The centre-back failed to clear his lines, handing the lively Christian Atsu the chance to shoot. His effort was blocked by Maya Yoshida but fell kindly at the feet of Isaac Hayden, who chanced his arm with a low shot from distance. And Forster, who had flung himself to his left in anticipation of Atsu’s attempt, was caught completely flat-footed, stranded as the ball squirmed beyond him.

England’s number two watched the restart with his head in his hands, but partner-in-crime Van Dijk almost achieved instant redemption when he beat Rob Elliot to a corner moments later. Almost. The defender glanced his header narrowly wide and St Mary’s grew increasingly restless.

Gabbiandini put Saints level for only a matter of seconds (Getty)

The mood threatened to turn even more sour after the break, when Perez took advantage of a defensive mix-up to stab a cross into the box that looped off Joselu and onto bar. Cue the intervention of Gabbiadini, who scored a fine solo goal to level the scores for a full 86-seconds.

The lone striker did well to bring down a long punt from the back but isolated himself down by the byline in doing so, surrounded by three Newcastle defenders and seemingly in a position of little danger. But he was then allowed — criminally — to embark on a leisurely dribble to the edge of the penalty area, his low shot on goal catching out Elliot at his near post.

St Mary's erupted but the joy of the home crowd was short lived. Again Forster was to blame: Newcastle immediately swept down the middle of the pitch with Perez shot low from 20 yards, only for the goalkeeper to push the attempt back out to the Spaniard. It was a tight angle but he failed to cover his near post and Perez rattled in the rebound.

Pellegrino was stung into action. Off came Redmond for Boufal, with Davis replacing Romeu shortly afterward. The game opened up as a consequence, with Southampton throwing players forward in pursuit of an equaliser. And yet it was another defensive error that handed Southampton their point.

Perez immediately put Newcastle back ahead (Getty)

This time French defender Florian Lejeune was the culprit. The spritely Shane Long was heading nowhere when he stormed into the box chasing down an overcooked through ball, but Lejeune could not resist making the challenge. Long hurtled over and Kevin Friend immediately awarded the spot-kick, which Gabbiadini gleefully lashed past Elliot high into the net.

“Okay we won the point, but we conceded a soft goal too quickly after equalising and we have to be better organised,” Pellegrino said. “My feeling today was that we never controlled the game totally and next week our organisation has to be better.”

There was one final moment of drama, when Davis heroically blocked Lejeune’s late header off the line. At the end, a still-exhaling Pellegrino almost fell into Benitez’s arms. A draw was a fair result, leaving Newcastle ninth in the table with Southampton one place behind.

Southampton: Forster, Cedric, van Dijk, Yoshida, Bertrand, Romeu (Davis 67), Lemina, Long (Austin 82), Tadic, Redmond (Boufal 57), Gabbiadini.

Subs not used: Hoedt, McCarthy, Ward-Prowse, McQueen.

Newcastle: Elliot, Yedlin, Lascelles, Lejeune, Manquillo, Shelvey, Ritchie, Hayden, Perez (Merino 63), Atsu (Murphy 82), Joselu (Gayle 68).

Subs not used: Clark, Diame, Darlow, Jesus Gamez.

Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)