Southampton excellently defended their one-goal lead earned in the first half against Arsenal on Saturday at the St. Mary’s Stadium. This handed the Gunners their third Premier League defeat in a row this April. It was a huge blow to their top-four hopes, who were once in pole position to secure Champions League football next season.
They lost to Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion back-to-back before facing Southampton. They are now sixth, three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand.
Mikel Arteta’s side controlled the game against the Saints and enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession, nearly 75 per cent of it. However, they were unable to make the most of the goal-scoring chances that they created.
Credit should be given to the Southampton backline who sat deep for the majority of the second half and defended well. They broke through on the counter whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Arsenal should have taken the lead in the first half itself when Eddie Nketiah pounced on Yann Valery and forced him into a mistake. He then played Gabriel Martinelli through on the right side as he perfectly picked out Bukayo Saka with a square pass. Fraser Forster struggled to cover the goal but did exceedingly well to deny Saka a definite lead.
Ralf Hassenhutl’s side struck late in the first half and scored the only goal of the match. Southampton’s corner was defended well by Arsenal in the box but was recycled by Romain Perraud. He found Mohamed Elyounoussi in the box who played a squared ball to Jan Bednarek. The centre-back finished from close range beyond Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal came out with greater purpose and intent in the second half to save their season and Champions League ambitions. However, they felt like they were running out of ideas and despite creating frequent chances and controlling possession never looked like scoring.
The Gunners found plenty of room to build attacks from wider positions but were unable to provide quality deliveries inside the box. Saints goalkeeper Forster delivered a brilliant performance as he saved six shots on target to help his team sail over the line.
Despite all that attacking talent on the pitch, the inexperience of the Arsenal squad was on display as they missed their chances. The Gunners faithful were left fuming on social media and were unpleased with their players and manager. (Sportskeeda)
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