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Southampton 1 - 1 Arsenal - Match Report

Another disappointing performance, but this time we didn’t get away with it and we dropped two points to Southampton, closing the gap between us and Manchester City to a meagre two points. Arteta started the same 11 who protected their 1 - 0 victory over Leeds last Sunday, as we went in search of our tenth win in eleven games.

Both teams started with a high intensity but it was Arsenal that dominated. Jesus, Xhaka, and Ødegaard all had chances very early on and it seemed that we would coast to victory. On the ten minute mark, White got the ball into the box for Xhaka, who was left in plenty of space and he put us ahead. The goal gave us some confidence and Southampton couldn’t get out of their own half. Eventually, Southampton managed to regain some control and put Ramsdale under a bit of pressure but nothing came of it. Martinelli and Jesus both had good chances just before the break but neither of them could find the back of the net.

Arsenal definitely paced themselves in the second half, and eventually became complacent, and then too confident as the home side played a fast counter attack that made its way past Ramsdale and we were on equal footing. Following the goal, Arsenal couldn’t get a look in on the ball and Arteta replaced White with Tierney, seeing Tomiyasu move over to the right, and Eddie replaced Martinelli. The game became frantic and a bit chaotic as there were several occasions where Southampton played a bit rough and ready with no repercussions.

It was a disappointing result as we missed the chance to go four points clear at the top of the table, and Arteta definitely could have shown some squad rotation as Jesus especially looked exhausted, missing goals he would have put away if he was on form.

Next we face PSV away at Eindhoven, and we need only a point to secure first place in group A after we ensured our qualification to the knockout stages with our simple 1 - 0 victory on Thursday. Hopefully the boys can come out stronger and bounce back from this as we did so well after the defeat against Manchester United. On a more positive note, Xhaka has been absolutely outstanding so far this season as he netted his fourth goal of the campaign. I couldn’t help but notice that he was always the one helping his teammates up after a foul and just generally boosting the morale in an attempt to take all three points from this game, he really is a world class player. Finally, and most importantly, we are still top of the table. The boys have come out and we are in a much better position that any of us expected us to be in, with just three Premier League games until we break for the World Cup, staying on top is definitely within reach, the players just need our support.