After blowing 2-0 leads in its previous two games, Arsenal rallied from two goals down to tie 3-3 with last-placed Southampton on Friday. Its lead in the English Premier League has slipped much further.
Arsenal salvaged a point at the Emirates with to late goals from Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. But the hosts couldn’t complete the comeback when Leandro Trossard hit the crossbar in injury time.
A third straight draw for Mikel Arteta’s squad after allowing two-goal leads at Liverpool and West Ham to slip gave Manchester City the lead in the title chase.
Arsenal leads City by five points, but City has two games in hand. And the Gunners need to beat Pep Guardiola’s squad at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday to keep control of their own destiny.
“Nothing is over,” remarked Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus. “We’re still ahead by five points.” They (City) have two games on the schedule. If we want to be champions, we just have to go there and win the game.”
Theo Walcott, of all people, may have disrupted Arsenal’s prospects of breaking a 19-year league title drought. The former Arsenal winger put Southampton up 2-0 after just 14 minutes. As the hosts dug themselves a hole they couldn’t entirely escape from.
Despite the late comeback, it felt like another two points were dropped after Arsenal’s own errors gave Southampton an early lead.
After only 27 seconds, goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale gave Southampton the lead when he threw a pass straight into the path of Carlos Alcaraz. Who controlled the ball before beating Ramsdale with a shot from just outside the box.
Another error contributed to Arsenal’s second goal, when the ball was given away in midfield and Alcaraz put Walcott through on goal. For his 39th goal at the Emirates. The former Arsenal winger beat Ramsdale with a low shot inside the far post.
“We conceded an early goal that killed our plan, but I think we played really well. And we responded really well with the crowd,” Jesus added. “This is a challenging time. We are placing ourselves in some difficult situations during the games. But it is now time to stick together.”