Round-up: Southampton 1-1 FC Midtjylland

Jay Rodriguez’s second half penalty saw Southampton come from behind to earn a draw against FC Midtjylland in the first-leg of their Europa League play-off at St Mary’s.

The forward converted his first goal since March 2014 as he steps up his return from the serious knee injury which saw him miss all of last season.

After knocking out Vitesse 5-0 in aggregate in the previous round, it was a largely frustrating night for Ronald Koeman and his side, who have failed to win any of their opening two Premier League games.

And a below par first half performance was punished when, on the stroke of the interval, former Saints player Tim Sparv put the Danish champions ahead with a low strike that beat Maarten Stekelenburg.

The hosts were improved after the break and thought they were back on level terms when Steven Caulker headed home, only for it to be chalked off for a foul.

Graziano Pelle, whose deflected strike won the corner, then had a diving header saved by Johan Dahlin as the English side ramped up the pressure.

And soon after, on 56 minutes, Koeman’s men got themselves on level terms when Rodriguez scored from the spot after James Ward-Prowse was fouled by Kian Hansen.

The Dane’s resorted to a lot of time-wasting after that, something which visibly frustrated Koeman.

Four minutes into stoppage time though, the hosts nearly secured a lead to take to Denmark next Thursday but Maya Yoshida’s header was tipped on to the post by Dahlin.

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