Arsenal’s 22-game unbeaten run came to an end when they faced Ralph Hassenhuttl’s rejuvenated Southampton at the South Coast. The game ended 3-2, with a brace from Danny Ings and one from Charlie Austin. For the visitors, the Armenian International Henrikh Mkhitaryan added two which was not enough to save the Gunners from their first defeat in nearly four months.
The hosts took the lead through Danny Ings who scored a header from a delicious Matt Targett’s ball. It took just eight minutes for Arsenal to equalize the score through Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Just moments before half-time, the Gunners defense went for a walk and failed to mark the English Striker Danny Ings who scored his second header goal of the night. The teams went into the half-time with the 2-1 scoreline.
Unai Emery’s side looked to be in full flow in the start of the second half. They have deservingly leveled the score through the same man again. The ball ricochet off Jannik Vestergaard which gave no chance to Alex Mccarthy to stop the ball. It was all visitors after the second goal, but Southampton caught the Gunners defense on the counter through the third header goal of the night.
This time, Charlie Austin headed the ball from close-range to give the lead in the 85th minute. The Saints did everything to hold on to the lead and exactly did that to register their second victory of the campaign. The new Southampton boss celebrated wildly after the final whistle to mark his arrival in style.
Aftermath facing his third defeat of the season, Emery spoke to the press conference. He said, “Our demand is very big but the level is very high with other teams. If we don’t win like today, it’s hard to get into the top four because the other teams are winning. The objective is the top four, but we know it’s not easy. We need to be demanding of ourselves. After 22 matches unbeaten we are only fifth.”
When he was asked if the money is available, ” It’s not easy. I don’t believe a lot in this transfer window because it’s not a big possibility with the players. The club is working.”
“I don’t know now. We don’t have a lot of possibilities in January but maybe we can think of someone to sign to help us, but only if we think the other players can’t help us with their performance. The club will look in January.” on whether he would make transfers.
Right-back Hector Bellerin was forced to be withdrawn during the first half “We are going to wait. Bellerin has a small [calf] injury, I think he will have some weeks off. We will look at how Mustafi and Kolasinac improve.”
Arsenal defence was easily breached by the Saints tonight “I think they worked well. Good news for Koscielny, good performance in 90 minutes. Xhaka played well, Lichtsteiner played well. We conceded not a lot of chances but their efficiency today was good. We had chances to score more than two goals but didn’t score. The control of the game in 90 minutes was more for us than them.”
Emery was also asked about the result and the performance of the game “We lost. In the 90 minutes we had different issues. The second half we were better in the game, with the control and also creating more chances than them. With a small action they scored the third goal. They deserved it because they played with big motivation. Our game today was similar to what we played before, but the result was different.”
Following this defeat, Arsenal have to pick themselves up against their arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the League Quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Emirates.
