Lacklustre Arsenal settle for draw at St. Mary's stadium
Gaston Ramirez celebrates after scoring versus Arsenal
Arsenal‘s hopes of keeping up with city rivals Tottenham took a blow when they came up against a plucky Southampton side who battled well for a 1 – 1 draw. In fact, Arsenal were lucky to have not lost the match as a second goal for Southampton was disallowed under questionable circumstances, and kept their unbeaten run intact. For Southampton though, the point was a welcome one as it took them above Wigan, and out of the relegation zone, while they also have a game in hand.
It was a shaky start for the home side, with Arsenal on the front foot, and Boruc gave the fans a couple of scary moments by spilling the ball under no real pressure, once from a corner, and once from a cross on the right flank. Boruc continued to look like a cat on a hot tin roof, and yet managed a wry smile after he came out and sliced a clearance after a poor backward pass. There was a good tempo to the game though, and Southampton seemed comfortable with the ball at their feet as they streamed forward in attack. There were no real threats on either team’s goal however, in the opening twenty minutes, and the most notable event was when Gaston Ramirez seemed to catch Jack Wilshere, who was celebrating his 21st birthday, in the groin, and caused a stoppage in play for a good few minutes.
Much of Arsenal’s attack came down the right flank, but didn’t seem to pay off too well as their balls into the box kept hitting the red wall of Southampton defenders. Similarly, most of Southampton’s attacks came through the middle, and finally paid rich dividend for the home team, as Gaston Ramirez scored the opening goal of the fixture in the 34th minute. Sagna sent his clearance off the foot of Lambert straight into the path of Puncheon, who laid it off for Gaston Ramirez to finish through a host of Arsenal defenders, and Szczesny.
Their lead lasted for less than seven minutes though, as out of nowhere, Arsenal grabbed the equaliser thanks to an own goal from Do Prado. Theo Walcott sent in a good ball into the box from a free kick on the left flank, and an attempted clearance from Do Prado went horribly wrong for the Brazilian midfielder, sending the ball into the corner of Boruc’s net, and leveling scores in the 41st minute. Theo Walcott soon put the ball in the back of the net himself, on the stroke of 45 minutes, but was deemed offside, and saw his side go into the break with the scores still tied.
Southampton’s Brazilian striker Guly Do Prado (L) deflects the ball into his own net for Arsenal’s equalizer
The second half began on a promising note for the home team, as Rickie Lambert plucked an aerial ball out and knocked it down across the Arsenal box, but saw it fall to Arsenal defenders, who hacked it clear. Ten minutes into the half, the Saints were on the front foot again, as Szczesny first dove to stop a Do Prado attempt sneaking into the corner, before clutching on to a corner on his goal-line to prevent Lambert from having a simple tap-in. The better chances continued to fall the way of the home team, as Szczesny was called into action yet again, this time to stop a low cross from Schneiderlin causing problems in the box, just past the hour mark. Soon after, it was Puncheon’s chance to come close, as he latched on to a Lambert ball in the box, but was pushed wide, and sent his shot wide of goal.
All the pressure from Southampton finally paid off in the 71st minute, when Gaston Ramirez chested down a ball wonderfully well, and finished past Szczesny with a turn and shoot. The goal was annulled however, as the assistant on the line raised his flag to indicate a foul committed by Ramirez with a push on Koscielny just before receiving the ball. Arsenal had a couple of close calls themselves, with attempts from Arteta and Gervinho coming close, but failed to break through the Soton defence. Similarly, Southampton failed to get past Szczesny either, and the scores remained as they were at half-time, come the end of the 90 minutes. A much better performance from Southampton than when they visited the Emirates this season, and a hard earned point for both teams.
Result: Southampton (Gaston Ramirez 34′) 1 – 1 Arsenal (Guly Do Prado (OG) 41′)