Arsenal's recent winning streak in the Premier League came to an end on Sunday as they drew 1-1 away at Southampton at Saint Mary's. It's only the second time they've managed to drop points in the division - the previous time coming in a defeat to Manchester United.
It means the Gunners missed out on a chance to continue their four-point lead at the top of the table, with champions Manchester City cutting it to two points after victory over Brighton on Saturday. The result, while on paper may come as a shock, it continues a streak of difficult trips for Arsenal to the south coast to face Southampton.
Mikel Arteta knew that challenge beforehand, saying: "I don't have an idea. I'm not in the dressing room, I don't know their thoughts. We have experienced some really tough matches against them, and I expect that again."
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The Gunners would have hoped that their start would see them score a few in the game, taking the lead after 11 minutes through Granit Xhaka's volley into the roof of the net. While chances came and went, the sides being separated by one goal always created a threat for the visitors.
That worry became much more than that halfway through the second half as Stuart Armstrong's run beyond the backline was picked out, allowing him to slide home beyond Aaron Ramsdale. While it was a swift move from the Saints, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp believes that one player was at fault.
"We were saying with Saliba and Gabriel as the two centre-backs," Redknapp said on the equaliser. "Ben White gets drawn across, and he doesn't know whether to run across. He comes across, and there he's a centre-back, you've got to stay as a centre-back, he sees him [Stuart Armstrong] too late, and by that time, it's a goal. Southampton deserved it. He showed great character under a lot of pressure. I thought they were impressive in the second half and deserved it."
While Ben White has come in for plenty of praise as of late, including an assist for the opener, it proved to be a costly mistake that saw the Gunners drop points in a game they would hope to take all three from.
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