Ladies and Gentlemen, take a moment to observe Mauricio Pellegrino, a manager on thin ice, trying to handle a 10-game winless run, dealt an extremely harsh hand when a precious away victory was snatched away as Abdoulaye Doucouré deftly batted in a late equaliser. In these days of VAR trials, here was a perfect example of the kind of decision that would have been referred, the tap of the hand easily spotted, the goal removed, the points for Southampton retained.

It would have been understandable had Pellegrino exploded, railed against the officials, damned the system and spoken of injustice. But he didn’t. He even managed to spare some sympathy for the referee, Roger East, who evidently missed the nature of the game’s decisive and defining touch. “Even the referee has pressure too,” Pellegrino reasoned. “For everybody at this level the pressure is to do your best every single day. I imagine the referee is not happy right now.” It was a remarkably dignified response under the circumstances.

“We have to support this person because everybody makes mistakes. My feeling is like all my players in the dressing room. We are a little bit sad,” he added. “For me the level of refereeing is good in the Premier League but this is clear. Sometimes mistakes are for you, sometimes against you, that’s part of our job.” Unsurprisingly he is supportive of the VAR trials but such are his thoughtful appraisals he probably would have said the same had the handball been in Southampton’s favour rather than Watford’s. “We have to try the technology. Every single team sport, technology helps us to make better decisions. Why not football? We have to try and then analyse.”

The other aspect Pellegrino wishes to analyse is the improvement in his team, particularly in a first half they dominated in style. That gave them the platform that should have helped them to a win at Vicarage Road. The attacking link-up between waspish target man Shane Long, stylish technician Dusan Tadic and the positive James Ward-Prowse was encouraging. They blended their range of characteristics to try to change the picture for the South Coast team.

Southampton scored midway through the first half, with Long kickstarting the move with a determined drive down the right and when his pull back was flicked into Ward-Prowse’s path, the midfielder took a breath and picked his spot, steering the ball carefully into the far corner of the net past Heurelho Gomes. The second came just before half-time with a smartly worked break, the ball swept from one end of the pitch to the other with pace and precision. Long chased a clearance, and when he clipped a pass to Tadic, the Serb had the composure to present the ball to Ward-Prowse, who was unerring once again in front of goal.

Jeers from the home support were understandable, laced with genuine concern about being dragged down into trouble. Marco Silva duly set about reshaping the team and revitalising their effort levels at half time.

“We were really bad in the first half,” he conceded. “We didn’t start strong like we expected. We didn’t play with the right mentality. It was clear for me we were playing too easy. I told them what all of us needs to be in that moment. You cannot have a lack of the right mentality, a lack of confidence. It doesn’t make sense to play scared – we are at home. Of course I need to react. Then we played with more risk, the right mentality, played without fear in the second half. I recognised our team in the second half.”

On came Troy Deeney, returning from his latest suspension and chucked on to lend his particular brand of character to Watford’s plight. Silva later backed the player to regain the fitness to make an impact for 90 minutes.

Watford pushed up the pitch and suddenly Southampton were cramped back in their own half, hassled by swarms of yellow. Watford’s optimism surged back when Daryl Janmaat’s shot was pushed on to the crossbar and Andre Gray followed up to nod into the goal.

Watford continued to throw bodies forward, but Southampton endeavoured to take the sting out of the game. Their keeper, Alex McCarthy, was booked for time wasting. Redemption came late when Deeney nodded on Pereyra’s cross and Doucouré arrived ahead of McCarthy to have the controversial final say.

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Facebook Twitter Pinterest James Ward-Prowse celebrates after opening the scoring for Southampton. Photograph: Tony O'Brien/Action Images via Reuters