If Mikel Arteta was not already worried about his side’s dramatic dip in form, now he will surely be be fretting about the prospect of Arsenal undoing all of their hard work as their pursuit of returning to the Champions League was dented by a damaging defeat at Southampton. Arteta had conceded that psychologically his team may have taken a hit in recent weeks and any hopes of regrouping were eroded as they succumbed to a fourth defeat in five Premier League matches, with the rejuvenated Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster keeping Arsenal at bay.
The only redeeming aspect about another difficult afternoon is that one of their prime rivals for a top-four berth, Tottenham, also failed to take victory. For Southampton, this was something of a restorative mission, the kind of afternoon that cleansed the palette after five defeats in their previous six, including that Chelsea demolition.
Forster was the only Southampton player to come out of their 6-0 battering at home to Chelsea with any credit and the goalkeeper, who was recalled to the England squad after a five-year hiatus last month, continued where he left off here, making a smart save low down to his right to repel an early curling shot by Gabriel Martinelli. Forster brilliantly denied the substitute Emile Smith Rowe in the second half and arguably the biggest moment arrived on 17 minutes when he shuffled across goal to somehow save Bukayo Saka’s attempt to convert Martinelli’s low cross. Eddie Nketiah, who led the line in the absence of the unwell Alexandre Lacazette, intercepted a loose pass by Yan Valery and fed Martinelli to his right, who delivered a cross from the right towards the back post. Saka should have scored but scooped his shot high, giving Forster the faintest chance to react.
Arteta headed straight down the tunnel as soon as the half-time whistle sounded. Arsenal would have taken the lead through Saka but for a wondrous Forster save and instead they trailed at the interval to an unflattering goal. Arsenal conceded a corner after Armando Broja tried to glance a James Ward-Prowse free-kick goalwards on the edge of the box and after Aaron Ramsdale punched the subsequent Ward-Prowse delivery clear. But Romain Perraud managed to recycle possession, hooking a ball over his head more in hope than anything and Mohamed Elyounoussi darted towards the byline, where he cut the ball back for Jan Bednarek to calmly side-foot in beyond Ramsdale. Gabriel summed up Arsenal’s frustrations, walloping the ball against the crossbar as Southampton ran off to celebrate.
Southampton, who had conceded 19 goals in their previous six matches, shifted to a five-man defence for this game, presumably to avoid anything remotely close to last week’s humbling and apart from Forster’s saves, Arsenal did not overly test a permeable back line. Mohammed Salisu, who is fasting as he observes Ramadan, was dropped to the bench in favour of Lyanco, who had a task on his hands to cage a game Nketiah and at one point he was powerless to prevent the striker galloping clear on halfway. Valery also displayed a vulnerability and was fortunate to avoid a booking for wiping out Nuno Tavares. On the opposite flank, the former Southampton defender Cedric Soares’s biggest first-half contribution were two wayward free-kicks.
Arteta, all in black, clasped his hands together on the edge of his technical area as seagulls hovered overhead. Arsenal struggled to penetrate Southampton. Nketiah flicked at goal from a Soares cross approaching the hour mark but his shot dribbled towards Forster and then Martinelli volleyed over. A couple of minutes later Soares was withdrawn and replaced by Smith Rowe as Arteta shifted things around, with Granit Xhaka moving to left-back. Then came another chance, Saka flashing a bending shot wide of goal after chopping in from the right flank.
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Before the visiting supporters had the chance to digest the arrival of Nicolas Pépé from the substitutes bench with 20 minutes to play, suddenly this game turned into an exercise of attack versus defence, with every Arsenal player bar Ramsdale camped inside the Southampton half. Then, after a lull, Forster was called in action. Valery failed to clear a cross into the box and it dropped kindly for Smith Rowe. The Arsenal midfielder could only scuff a shot goalwards but it was tricky enough and was bobbling into the corner before Forster clawed the ball away. Martin Ødegaard and Xhaka went close late on but Southampton held on to eke out victory.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism