Jay Rodriguez ends 17-month goal drought

Jay Rodriguez scored his first goal in almost 17 months as Southampton were held to a draw by FC Midtjylland in last night’s Europa League play-off tie.

The England international had been out with a serious knee injury for much of that time and the relief was there for all to see as he emphatically thumped home an equaliser from the penalty spot to secure a 1-1 draw.

All the pre-game talk at St Mary’s had been about players staying at the club as, with Manchester United linked with another high-profile poach of Southampton talent with a move for Sadio Mane, manager Ronald Koeman insisted he was not for sale.

But ironically it was a returning Saints player who opened the scoring as Tim Sparv put Midtjylland ahead just before half-time, giving his side the edge ahead of next week’s return leg.

Finland international Sparv was part of the same youth side as Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Adam Lallana but never made it into the Saints’ first team and although he did not celebrate he would have enjoyed his moment.

Saints hit back with an early second-half penalty, with Rodriguez slotting home his first goal since he struck twice in a 4-0 win over Newcastle on March 29 2014 — leaving the tie finely poised ahead of the return fixture.

Last night’s Europa League results:

Astra Giurgiu 3 AZ Alkmaar 2, Dinamo Minsk 2 Salzburg 0, FK Qabala 0 Panathinaikos 0, Ajax 1 Jablonec 0, FC Krasnodar 5 HJK 1,Liberec 1 Hajduk Split 0, Molde 2 Standard Liege 0, PAOK Thessaloniki FC 5 Brondby 0, Sparta Prague 3 Thun 1, Zorya 0 Legia Warsaw 1, FC Milsami Orhei 1 Saint-Etienne 1, Atromitos 0 Fenerbahce 1, Rabotnicki 1 Rubin Kazan 1, Steaua Bucharest 0 Rosenborg 3, Young Boys 0 Qarabag FK 1, Zilina 3 Athletic Bilbao 2, Altach 0 Belenenses 1, Bordeaux 1 Kairat Almaty 0, Odd Ballklubb 3 Borussia Dortmund 4, Viktoria Plzen 3 Vojvodina 0, Lech Poznan 3 Videoton FC 0, Southampton 1 FC Midtjylland 1.