Arsenal handed Man City the advantage in the Premier League title race by drawing 3-3 with lowly Southampton on Friday
Advantage Manchester City! If Arsenal are going to win the Premier League title this season, they are now going to have to do it the hard way.
Mikel Arteta’s side may have shown good spirit to fight back with two late goals to salvage a 3-3 draw with Southampton on Friday night, but a draw against the Premier League’s bottom club simply won’t cut it at this stage of the season.
After dropping points against Liverpool and West Ham, Arsenal had to beat the Saints, especially with Wednesday night’s to Manchester City looming large.
But a chaotic display saw them needing goals from Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka in the last couple of minutes to avoid what would have been an embarrassing home defeat.
An awful error from Aaron Ramsdale gifted Carlos Alcaraz the opening goal inside 30 seconds and Theo Walcott made it 2-0 soon after. Gabriel Martinelli reduced the deficit, but a Duje Caleta-Car header midway through the second half restored Southampton’s two goal advantage.
Odegaard and Saka’s late strikes drew Arsenal level in the closing stages before Leandro Trossard struck the bar in stoppage time as the hosts went in search of what would have been a dramatic winner.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Emirates Stadium…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli
This has to be given jointly given what Arsenal’s two young wingers achieved against Southampton.
When Saka got down the right and crossed for Martinelli to volley home in the first half, the duo became only the second pair of team-mates to hit 20+ goal involvements in a Premier League campaign.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney are the only pair to have done it previously, way back in the 2006/07 season.
It’s a superb achievement from Arsenal’s two exceptional young wingers in a season that has seen both of them set new heights in terms of consistency and output in the final third.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: Fabio Vieira
When Granit Xhaka fell ill while at the team hotel ahead of the game, Mikel Arteta had to decide how to replace the Switzerland international.
He opted for Fabio Vieira, bringing the Portuguese playmaker in as his left-sided No.8 alongside Martin Odegaard.
Arteta had other options, he could have gone for Leandro Trossard, although the Belgium star is far more suited to a more attacking role, or he could have gone with the lesser-used Emile Smith Rowe.
But Vieira got the nod despite some disappointing recent showings and it was not a decision that paid off.
The summer signing from Porto again just looked lightweight and was unable to make any real impact on the game before was replaced by Trossard after just 56 minutes.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Romeo Lavia
You can certainly see why so many clubs are keen on the 19-year-old midfielder.
Amid all the chaos of this bizarre contest, Lavia was the one real calm head at times, especially in the first half when he was exceptional in the heart of the midfield.
The Belgium international was composed on the ball, drove Southampton forward when he could and frustrated Arsenal with his ability to turn over possession.
Most expected Lavia to move on this summer, whether the Saints survive or not. On this evidence you can see why.
Getty ImagesLOSER: Thomas Partey
These are the games where Arsenal need their star players to perform, but instead most of them were well off the pace – with Thomas Partey the worst of the lot.
The midfielder, so often the driving force of this young team, had a shocking night, producing arguably his worst performance of the season.
Granit Xhaka’s absence could have been a reason why as Partey was certainly left isolated in the heart of midfield at times.
But a player of his experience and quality should have been able to cope far better than he did.
His touch and decision making was poor all night, with his wild late shot from distance which flew into the crowd the perfect example of that.
It was a night to forget for Partey and for Arsenal.
