By Ricky Butler at St. Mary's
 |
| Adam Lallana celebrates his equaliser at St. Mary's last night |
TEN-MAN Arsenal saw their title chances dealt a blow last night as a second half equaliser from Adam Lallana saw them held by an impressive Southampton on the South Coast.
Trailing at the break to a controversial goal from Jose Fonte, Arsene Wenger's Barclays Premier League leaders rallied with strikes from Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla within six minutes of the restart.
But Saints captain and England's new star, Lallana, responded almost immediately before Mathieu Flamini was shown a late red card for a two-footed lunge on Morgan Schniederlin to leave the North-Londoners frustrated.
However, Wenger remained upbeat at the whistle. He said: "Southampton had a great first half, they played at a great pace and we had problems to get into the game.
"The second half we responded very well and came back in a convincing way, we were 2-1 up, but the double disappointment we have is to concede as quickly as that, and secondly to finish the game with ten men.
"We have shown a lot of character and resilience to come back, and overall I would say it is a difficult point but a fair point."
Arsenal was late arriving at the ground due to traffic problems but that could be no excuse for what was a lacklustre first half display. Although the goal that gave Southampton a 21st minute lead was shrouded in controversy - Fonte appearing to push Nacho Monreal as he rose to head home Luke Shaw's left-wing cross - there was no question the Saints deserved to be ahead at the break.
In fact had teenager striker Sam Gallagher not fluffed his lines when presented with a golden opportunity soon afterwards, the match may well have been beyond Wenger's men. But the Gunners showed their full title potential in the early moments of the second half.
This was far from vintage Arsenal, in fact it would be fair to say this was their poorest performance for quite some time, but they have quality in abundance and two pieces of magic saw them turn the match on its head.
They were level two minutes after the resumption when Bacary Sagna's driven cross from the right was flicked home by Giroud with a clever back-heel, and the turn around was complete four minutes later.
Mesut Ozil laid the ball off to Cazorla on the edge of the penalty area and the little Spaniard arrowed a low, left-footed shot into the bottom corner of Boruc's net - his 4th goal in the last three matches.
But before Arsenal could consolidate their position, they were pegged back almost immediately. Having been so strong defensively all season, it was somewhat of a surprise to see them momentarily switch off at the back, allowing Lallana time and space to finish a low cross into the box by Jay Rodriguez.
The game ebbed and flowed after that but the best opportunities fell to the leaders. Ozil saw an effort deflected onto the crossbar after a strong burst into the area, before Monreal shanked an effort wide with only Boruc to beat.
But their chances of finding a winner were over 10 minutes from time. Flamini was shown a straight red card by referee Lee Mason for a two-footed challenge on Schniederlin, and only a fine double save from Wojciech Szczesny, denying Shaw and Fonte, ensured the Gunners left with at least a point.
"It was a very good football game," said Wenger. "And Southampton deserve some credit. I felt we were a little unfortunate on the decision for the first goal but the first half was not good enough.
"We tried to push on for the third goal but after we went down to ten men it was important to come home with a point."
Arsenal could drop down to third tonight if Chelsea and Manchester City win against West Ham and Spurs respectively, but there is every chance this could prove to be a very important point in the final reckoning.
A trademark of champions is to get results when not at their best and Wenger's side has certainly developed a knack this season of doing just that. But with tougher tests to come in the next few weeks, performances will have to improve if they are to stay at the top.
SOUTHAMPTON - Boruc, Chambers, Fonte, Schniedelrin, Shaw, Yoshida, Cork, Davis (Do Prado, 89), Lallana, Rodriguez, Gallagher (Ward-Prowse, 70).
ARSENAL - Sczcesny, Sagna, Mertersacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Arteta, Gnabry (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 70), Cazorla (Gibbs, 86), Ozil, Giroud (Podolski, 89).
REFEREE - L. Mason.
MAN OF MATCH - Lallana (Southampton) - Could be a real star in Brazil this summer.
ATTENDANCE: 31, 284
No comments:
Post a Comment