Owen Farrell clinches win with late drop-goal

Owen Farrell scored a last-minute drop- goal to give Saracens a 19-16 win over Gloucester.

Farrell and Santiago Carreras traded penalties in a tight first half, as Max Malins and Oliver Thorley scored tries.

Farrell left 10 points on the field in missed kicks as Ivan van Zyl scored the second try of the game to tie the score.

Carreras' third penalty had the match heading for a draw, but Farrell's kick at the end gave the victory.

The win for Saracens means they extend their lead at the top of the league to 14 points, while Gloucester lost at home in the league for the second time this season.

Farrell could face repercussions for a high tackle on Jack Clement that was not reviewed by the referee but was highlighted by the television officials.

The two fly-halves, Santiago Carreras for Gloucester and Owen Farrell for Saracens, both kicked 11 points for their teams.

The first 10 minutes of the match were dominated by the hosts, as they were penned in their own half.

The try was held up by George McGuigan after the ball was moved through the phases and freed the wing up on the right.

Gloucester's usually effective line-out fell apart when they finally got into the territory of the other team. Ben Morgan's try was scrubbed off because of a dummy throw from McGuigan, after he appeared to score from a perfect maul.

The home fans were still reeling when Thorley ran 50 metres to score his first try of the season and put Gloucester in front.

Farrell and Carreras scored a pair of penalties apiece to put the visitors ahead at the break, but England and Saracens captain Owen Farrell put the visitors back in front at the start of the second half.

Carreras kicked three points after the restart to help the Cherry and Whites get back in the game. Alex Goode blocked his path as he tried to kick the ball.

The full-back was sent to the sin-bin, but the Argentina international missed the subsequent penalty and Gloucester did not make the period count.

The packed home crowd appeared to start getting to Farrell, who hit the post with his third penalty, kicked wide with his fourth, and missed a conversion - all with new England head coach Steve Borthwick watching from the stands.

The match was heading for a draw after Carreras' third penalty with eight minutes to go.

Farrell had the last word in front of The Shed and he did not miss the kick that mattered most as the clock wound down.

The head coach of Gloucester told a radio station.

I thought the boys did a great job.

When the strikes were on, I thought they kicked well, and our line-out didn't get what we usually get out of it.

"We put a lot of pressure on and probably got a little confused in the 22 in their area a few times, and that's probably the difference in winning that game by a score and not."

I am not supposed to talk about that, but I am frustrated. I'm more frustrated that it's very quick to get yellows for us last week and sometimes it seems you don't get the rub of the green and I feel like tonight, in a few areas, we didn't get the rub of the green

Mark is the director of rugby.

It is difficult to get to. Throughout the match, we competed and fought for every point.

At key times, we showed resilience. There were some interventions by people.

I don't recall the last time Owen scored for us. We came out the right side of the game.

Rapava Ruskin, McGuigan, Gotovtsev, and Morgan are from Gloucester.

Replacements: Elrington, Knight, Jordan and Clement.

George, Riccioni, Itoje, Tizard, Christie, Earl and B Vunipola are members of the squad.

Dan, Judge, Isiekwe, Van Zyl, Hallett, Segun are replacements.

Alex Goode was in sin-bin.

The referee was KarlDickey.