Arsenal does not lift its head. The narrow defeat against Southampton (1-0) perpetuated the losing streak of the ‘Gunners’, who have lost their last three games. Fraser Forstergoalkeeper of the ‘Saints’ was largely responsible for Mikel Arteta’s men not being able to take advantage of Tottenham’s setback (0-1) to close the gap in the fight for the Champions zone.
SOU
ARS
Southampton
Forster; Valery, Lyanco, Bednarek; Walker-Peters, Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu, Perraud; Armstrong (Redmond, 82′), Broja (Long, 74′), Elyounoussi (Livramento, 92′)
Arsenal
Ramsdale; Soares (Smith Rowe, 60′), White, Gabriel, Tavares (Péé, 70′); Lokonga, Xhaka; Martinelli, Odegaard, Saka; Nketiah
Referee
Peter Banks. TA: Broja (56′), Long (95′)/White (91′).
Stadium
St. Mary’s Stadium. 31,465 spectators.
Mikel Arteta’s men led the match from the initial whistle. His will was, at all times, to monopolize possession, and when it was not possible, to resort to aggressive pressure to recover the ball. Thus, the first big chance came after forcing a defensive error. Martinelliinside the area, assisted so that saka finish at will. However, the English international’s attempt was thwarted by a magnificent save from Forster.
The script was maintained during the first part, with an Arsenal that improved its performance with the passing of the minutes. Nevertheless, the course of the match changed at the stroke of halftime. In a second play resulting from a corner kick, Elyounoussi delayed the ball so that Bednarekonly against the goalkeeper, ahead of the ‘Saints’.
The second half meant a change of order in the tactical aspect. Arsenal needed to win to take a step forward in the fight for the Champions zone, and for that they needed two goals. In this way, Arteta replaced Soars Already Tavaresits two sides, to give entrance to Smith Rowe Already pepetwo players with a marked offensive vocation.
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The changes in the scheme led the ‘Gunners’ to turn to the attack, but ran into a wall called Fraser Forster. The English goalkeeper, who was already decisive in the first half, cleared two shots at close range from Smith Rowe Y saka to continue keeping his goal to zero.