Stuart Armstrong celebrates Southampton’s second-half equaliser against Arsenal at St Mary’s
(Picture: Getty Images)High-flying Arsenal dropped points for only the second time this season as the Premier League leaders were held to a rare 1-1 draw by lowly Southampton.
Granit Xhaka’s thunderous fourth goal of the season inside 11 minutes looked likely to set the Gunners on their way to a ninth consecutive win across all competitions that would have extended their lead at the summit back to four points over Manchester City, who brushed aside Brighton yesterday, but they were eventually pegged back by a spirited Saints side thanks to Stuart Armstrong’s smart second-half finish.
The only previous top-flight match Mikel Arteta’s men failed to win this season was at Old Trafford last month, when they were bested 3-1 by Manchester United.
Arsenal started in typically confident fashion on the south coast having reverted back to the familiar league starting XI that was fortunate to escape Leeds’ Elland Road with all three points last week, with Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka both passed fit to start after injury scares.
Jesus, Saka and captain Martin Odegaard all fashioned chances before Xhaka’s opener, blasting into the roof of the net again with his weaker right foot and giving Gavin Bazunu no chance after fine link-up play between Ben White and Saka down the right flank.
Arsenal then quickly saw a decent penalty shout waved away by referee Rob Jones as Duje Caleta-Car got away with clearly manhandling Jesus inside the area.
Southampton were firmly second best but gained a foothold in the game after switching from a back four to a five-man defence, seeing far more of the ball but struggling to threaten other than from a succession of James Ward-Prowse corners that were repelled.
Saka was very harshly booked for simulation and Bazunu was forced into an important save just before half-time, parrying Jesus’ volley after a lovely chip from skipper Odegaard.
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