Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale posted his first tweet since May following his side’s 1-1 draw with Brighton – and it quickly went viral.
Cameron Archer thought he had put the Saints 2-1 ahead on 67 minutes, only to see his goal ruled out for offside after VAR deemed Adam Armstrong had interfered with play.
The decision, however, took four-and-a-half minutes to reach, and Southampton fans were left furious at the outcome.
Manager Russell Martin described the process behind the decision as a ‘big problem’: “We’ve been told it’s because Adam Armstrong affects Verbruggen, the goalkeeper.
“I’d understand if the ball went in front of Adam, if the cross was close enough to come and claim, which it’s not, and if he moves because of Adam’s run. He does none of them. He steps away from Adam to try and go into Cameron Archer.
“We either have VAR to correct problems or not. When there’s a goal, it’s a big problem.”
And Ramsdale, who missed the game at the Amex Stadium as he is recovering from a fractured finger, took to Twitter to make his feelings clear.
He simply wrote: “You can not be serious,” alongside a facepalm emoji.
Image: Twitter/@AaronRamsdale98
The goalkeeper has only tweeted four times since October 2023 – underlining just how seriously he felt about the decision that went against his side.
The Saints went behind in the first half through Kaoru Mitoma’s 29th-minute goal, but equalised in the second half through Flynn Downes.
They have won only once this season and are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with just five points from their 13 games.
Martin had a heated confrontation with Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler at full-time as tensions boiled over, and told media: “The manager decided to say something, I think he said it’s about respect in the press. I’ve never seen an manager try to get opposition players booked as much as that.
“Respect is mutual and reciprocal.”
