James Bree, Lewis Dobbin and Leo Scienza all squandered chances as Southampton dropped points at home for the first time this season with a 0-0 draw against Bolton.
The trio all wasted tap-ins, while Saints were also left bereft by a penalty not being given for a Ruben Rodrigues handball.
Bolton, on the back of away wins at Wolves and Norwich, could have claimed the three points themselves through Sam Dalby or Rodrigues.
But they made it 11 matches, spread over 25 years, without tasting defeat against Southampton, who have not lost at St Mary’s for 18 games.
Bolton held a disciplined high line which frustrated the hosts’ attacking attempts, with seven offsides called against Saints in the first half.
They only got into the Trotters’ box three times despite dominating possession, but the first occasion saw Leo Scienza squander a golden chance.
James Bree produced a perfect cutback for Scienza, but the Brazilian could not keep his effort down.
The visitors’ tight-knit defence refused to allow another such chance in the first half as Southampton were restricted to half-moments.
Scienza drilled a 30-yard shot straight at former Saints goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu while Larin could not quite get a touch on Scienza’s in-swinging cross before the Canadian poked over via a deflection.
In fact, Wanderers forced the best save of the half two minutes before the break, when Thierry Gale’s fierce drive was denied by Daniel Peretz’s training hand.
The second half started off far more end-to-end; Xavier Simon’s low shot bounced off Jack Stephens and narrowly wide.
And then at the other end, Lewis Dobbin – who replaced Larin before half-time, fired past the post when sent clean in behind by Scienza.
The hosts were denied a penalty by referee Matt Donohue when Scienza’s cross from the left was blocked by the upraised hand of Rodrigues.
Bolton looked the more likely side to break the deadlock as they had three massive attacks.
Striker Sam Dalby’s flicked header from a free-kick required a push over by Peretz and Rodrigues capitalised on some slack passing out from the back but saw his low effort deflected wide.
And Peretz pulled off a point-blank save to block out Josh Sheehan after the midfielder had bundled his way through the box.
Saints had their own golden chance in the 80th minute but Dobbin shinned a centre wide to set up a grandstand final 10 minutes, where both teams could sense three points but neither could take them.
Bree will have nightmares about his 84th-minute miss. He had the penalty box to himself, after Scienza’s ball into the middle, but scuffed off-target to the whole ground’s disbelief.
The managers
Southampton’s Tonda Eckert:
To follow…
Bolton’s Steven Schumacher:
To follow…
What the result means and next fixtures…
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
