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Arsene Wenger insists Olivier Giroud remains important to Arsenal and will start future games
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Arsene Wenger insists Olivier Giroud is going nowhere after the striker came off the bench to salvage a point for Arsenal at Southampton.
Charlie Austin’s early goal had put Southampton in front until Giroud’s 88th-minute header ensured the spoils were shared at St Mary’s.
It was Giroud’s 17th Premier League goal as a substitute for Arsenal, with the Frenchman yet to start a league game all season.
However, despite being linked with a move away in the Sunday newspapers, Wenger says Giroud remains an important player for Arsenal and will see his name feature in the starting line-up.
“He is important - why should we lose an important player? It is up to us [and not Giroud],” Wenger said.
"He will start more games. I believe as well it’s always the same when you have many good players, some of them cannot play.
“The question you get is always why does the guy who is good not play? Because if you take him on you have another guy who is good who will not play, it is as simple as that.”
Austin fired the hosts ahead in just the third minute, capitalising on a lackadaisical start from the Gunners back line.
And though Arsenal rallied late on, Wenger found himself evaluating Alexis Sanchez’s overall performance for Arsenal, claiming the Chilean started far too deep to make an impact.
“I think in the second half I am happy with his performance,” Wenger added. "In the first half I feel he played a little bit too deep, we need him a little higher up in the pitch and especially when you dominate the game it is important that he plays in the final third.
“He is tempted sometimes to drop a little bit deep in midfield. Then when you start 35 yards away from goal, it’s difficult to score.”
Wenger was also unhappy with what he perceived as time-wasting from Southampton as they looked to see the game out in the latter stages - specifically when his side were prevented from taking a quick free-kick in the last minute.
“I must say I am very frustrated as in the second half there was a lot of time-wasting,” he added.
"Especially on the final ball on the counter-attack, it is very frustrating to give the advantage to the guy who had the foul because we were not only called back.
“We were three against one but we played it quick and the referee called the ball back without any reason and that was a huge advantage for Southampton in the final minute.”
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 10/12/2017 21:07:41
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| Southampton 1-1 Arsenal – player ratings | Arseblog News - the Arsenal news siteARSEBLOG |
| | Wenger bemoans time-wasting and refereeing in Saints drawDAILYCANNON |
| | Match Report: Arsenal 1-1 SouthamptonSBNATIONTHESHORTFUSE |
| | Wenger confirms Ramsey hamstring injuryDAILYCANNON |
| | Instant Reactions - Southampton v Arsenal (10/12/17)VITALFOOTBALL |
|| Two good, two bad: Souhampton v ArsenalFRESHSAINTS |
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 10/12/2017 22:07:48
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| ‘We could have been 3-0 down after 10 minutes’ARSENAL || ‘I’m sure Arsene will sign him in January’ … Arsenal fans confident club will buy centre-backFOOTBALLFANCAST |
|| Southampton fans react on Twitter to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s performance in Arsenal drawHEREISTHECITY |
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| | Wenger reveals what he said to his players at half-timeFOOTBALLLONDON |
| | Giroud: In the end it was a good point, we’re pleasedDAILYCANNON |
| | SPORTSKEEDA |
|| Floundering Mertesacker, Hot Headed Xhaka and the Incompetence of RefereesWELCOMETOTHEGUNNERSTOWN |
| | Arsenal nearly lost the game in the first ten minutes AGAIN! | Just Arsenal NewsJUSTARSENALNEWS |
| | Watch Dundee United keeper Harry Lewis deal with backpass with bizarre headerDAILYRECORD |
|| Wenger comments on Giroud’s future amid Everton and Southampton linksHEREISTHECITY |
|| Going to Southampton ?FOXESTRUST |
| | Wenger on 1-1 draw, Giroud, Ramsey’s injury, Sanchez’s form - TranscriptFOOTBALLLONDON |
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Southampton 1-1 Arsenal: Pellegrino delighted with squad game
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MAURICIO Pellegrino believes Saints’ draw with Arsenal proves his faith in his squad is well placed.
The Saints boss made four changes for the visit of the Gunners, including giving Jack Stephens a first start in three months in an unfamiliar right back position.
It paid off as Saints were only denied victory by Olivier Giroud’s late equaliser.
It was the competitiveness of his squad as much as the performance that pleased Pellegrino.
He said: "I think it was a good game, I think we compete well.
"We were intelligent from the beginning until the end.
"We concede at the end but we know against this side, with this quality, in one action everything can change.
"I think we didn’t control the ball but I think we controlled the game because we created more clear chances than them and against Arsenal it is never easy.
"The most important news is even when I change players for today, when I changed players the other day, and I got people ready for Wednesday, means the squad is competing well.
“Most of them I feel are ready to compete and this is the good news.”
Saints were so close to beating the Gunners, set up by Charlie Austin’s early strike.
“When you play against Arsenal or the biggest teams in the Premier League you have to be close to excellence to win this type of game,” reflected Pellegrino.
"I feel that little by little we are growing and the team showed we are competitive and this is one of my goals in this club.
"It doesn’t matter the opponent because to be competitive is different to have a group of players with quality.
“We have got another possibility on Wednesday and hopefully we can continue in this way.”
For Austin it was an impressive fourth goal in his last four games.
The striker’s form is helping Saints pick up a bit of form at an important stage of the season with the games coming thick and fast.
“Obviously the goal is something that completes the job for strikers, but also I have to be happy because in the action Dusan does a really nice pass and it is important to create possibilities to score,” said Pellegrino.
"It’s not just a question to play with more strikers but we have to be patient, we have to be in the right way, the right position, to manage the ball a little bit more.
“We have five or six clear chances to score against Arsenal and this is something that is not easy.”
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Southampton 1-1 Arsenal: Giroud late leveller stops Saints
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Olivier Giroud climbed off the bench to rescue a point for Arsenal in a 1-1 draw at Saints.
The French frontman struck two minutes from the end as Saints just failed to hang on to Charlie Austin’s early opener.
Austin had punished Arsenal for a calamitous beginning to the match with his fourth goal in his last three starts.
With just two minutes on the clock the striker collected a loose clearance from Per Mertesacker and fed Dusan Tadic.
Austin timed his run into the area perfectly, taking Tadic’s return ball in his stride and lashing it past Petr Cech.
Things could have got worse moments later when Tadic sent Austin through again, with Arsenal’s defence nowhere to be seen, but this time Cech blocked the striker’s low drive.
And there was more panic in the Gunners ranks with just seven minutes gone as Austin got in behind again, crashing his shot against a post although he was flagged offside.
Arsenal eventually recovered from their woeful start, but they struggled to find a way through a dogged Saints defence until Giroud’s late intervention.
Arsene Wenger had once again started with Jack Wilshere on the bench despite his sparkling Europa League display in midweek.
Granit Xhaka, the man keeping Wilshere out, set up a chance for Alexandre Lacazette, who turned in the area but fired sraight at Fraser Forster.
Lacazette was then denied by a timely challenge from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg after a lightning counter-attack before Forster held Aaron Ramsey’s scuffed effort.
Forster has had his critics this season but the England World Cup hopeful made a fine save on the half-hour to tip a well-struck Ramsey drive around the post.
Southampton had another let-off before half-time when Maya Yoshida clattered Lacazette in the area after he had taken a shot but no penalty was given.
Their determination not to allow Arsenal back in was summed up when James Ward-Prowse and Jack Stephens double-teamed Sead Kolasinac, both sliding in to rob the winger in the penalty area.
Saints were inches from a second when Oriol Romeu took aim from 25 yards and crashed his shot against the crossbar.
Then Tadic fed Austin once again but the frontman’s attempt to lift the ball over Cech drifted wide.
Arsenal pushed for an equaliser and Alexis Sanchez stood over a free-kick 20 yards out only for Forster to punch his shot clear.
But with two minutes left Sanchez curled a cross into the area and Giroud rose above Virgil van Dijk to guide his header inside the far post.
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 10/12/2017 23:07:55
| | Three talking points from Arsenal’s late draw against SouthamptonTHEBOOTROOM |
| Premier League: Olivier Giroud Strikes Late To Rescue Arsenal vs Southampton – NDTV SportsNDTVCOM |
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| | Giroud, Sanchez & Koscielny - Arsenal talking points vs SouthamptonFOOTBALLLONDON |
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Arsene Wenger explains his defenders’ slow start against Southampton
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Martin Keown was not the only Arsenal defender who failed to turn up at St Mary’s yesterday.
The BT Sport pundit was caught in snow on the M40 and, as if to show solidarity with the former Gunner, the current rearguard also went missing as Charlie Austin scored after 128 seconds.
Yet Arsene Wenger did not blame the biting weather for getting caught cold.
The Gunners manager reckoned his defenders were still haunted by what happened against Manchester United a week earlier, when they were 2-0 down inside 11 minutes.
“Last week had an influence on today’s game – it took us time to get into the game again,” he said.
“I felt that the Manchester United game was still in the heads of our defenders. That’s why sometimes it’s not too good to talk about a problem because you create even a bigger one.”
So don’t mention the score. Or a fragile defensive unit which will never win the Premier League and is again endangering the club’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Such was their early disarray that Austin could have completed his hat-trick in the opening eight minutes – Petr Cech made a fine low save from him before he hit the post after straying offside.
Per Mertesacker was finally hooked after 64 minutes as Arsenal reverted to a back four as a launchpad for the comeback.
Goalkeeper Cech said: “The first 10 minutes cost us the game against Man United and it almost did again today. It is something we have to work on.
"Every player needs to ensure that when they step out of the dressing room they are ready to compete.”
But after the horror opening, it was deja vu for the Frenchman as his side again dominated possession and chances yet failed to win.
The home defeat against Manchester United was bizarre.
This away performance was more predictable until Wenger threw on Jack Wilshere to add urgency – and then his fellow sub Olivier Giroud nodded home Alexis Sanchez’s 88th-minute cross.
The draw lifts Arsenal above Tottenham into fifth place. But Wenger could not resist criticising referee Bobby Madley – and the frustrating Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez.
He was not happy with Madley’s failure to clamp down on Southampton time-wasting. And on the Chilean (far left), he said: “I am happy with his performance in the second half but in the first half I feel he played too deep.
“He is tempted sometimes to drop a little bit deep into midfield. When you start 35 yards away from goal, it’s difficult to score.”
Southampton had chances to seal a win with a second goal but Oriel Romeu hit the bar and then Ryan Bertrand missed when clean through.
“If we had got the second goal, it is all over,” claimed Austin. “I don’t see them coming back. But a one-goal lead in this League is not enough.”
But in-form Austin promises to be the difference between a relegation battle and mid-table security for the Saints this season.
Before his first Premier League start of the season against Everton, Southampton had scored nine goals in 12 games – and only four from open play.
Austin, who was set up by the excellent Dusan Tadic, has now netted four in four to lift them up to 10th.
Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino said: “I think it was a positive performance - we were intelligent and competed well
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Southampton 1-1 Arsenal - as it happened
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10 talking points from the Premier League weekend
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Another weekend of Premier League action is in the book - and that might already be that in the title race.
Manchester City opened up an 11-point gap in the title race as they came from behind against Manchester United to win the Old Trafford derby.
It was also derby day on Merseyside and, despite dominating, Liverpool had to settle for a point thanks to Wayne Rooney’s first ever goal for Everton against their fiercest rivals.
Arsenal dropped points at Saints while Chelsea were beaten at West Ham, allowing Tottenham to make up ground in a demolition job of hapless Stoke.
Here are 10 talking points from the Premier League weekend…
The conventional wisdom among the Mancunian cognoscenti was that Jose Mourinho would have no choice but to park the bus and go full-Mourinho if the Red Devils were to get anything from their high-flying neighbours.
But a starting line-up that featured Martial, Lingard and Rashford supporting Lukaku up top with the omission of Fellaini didn’t scream of bus-parking.
But then the match started.
The hosts quickly began to sit back and crowd out City’s attacks, as the visitors began by largely trying to go through the middle, with De Bruyne taking advantage of the extra space allowed in midfield. United’s only forays forward were, somewhat predictably, on the counter.
With United needing to win this one far more than City did, this tactic would eventually prove to suit the away side.
When you spend £75million on a striker, you’d expect him to have the final say in the big games.
And that’s exactly what Romelu Lukaku did at Old Trafford, albeit not the way Mourinho would have liked.
Looking increasingly shorn of confidence upfront, the Belgian spurned every opportunity he had in the City area, but saved his most costly work for inside the United box.
Not once, but twice the former Everton man was guilty of fluffing his defensive lines, as he made two awful set-piece clearances which led to the two City goals.
Ederson’s point-blank save from the United forward with six minutes remaining was typical of his recent luck.
His confidence looks shot and with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s fitness on the up, it might be time for Mourinho to change things up.
If you were a Manchester City player, would you dare to ever play a long ball? Skipper Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho were both on the receiving end of a Guardiola tongue-lashing in the first 20 minutes when they dared to go long.
This undoubtedly contributed to City’s patient approach in the first-half, when the visitors showed little urgency, despite having the overwhelming majority of possesstion.
In recent weeks this has been City’s modus operandi, as their quality has always risen to the top evenutally, and so it proved again, when Silva netted the opener.
Has a winger ever had such a miraculous run of goalscoring form (the answer for those who are pausing is no, obviously).
Mo Salah is enjoying the best steak of his life, and he will look back on this period as something celestial. How else to explain his contribution to Liverpool since signing in the summer?
He is already an Anfield icon, but his first half goal takes him close already to legend status.
Even Sam Allardyce was frustrated with his team’s approach at times though. Yes, he wanted them to be compact, to reduce the space and to take few risks.
He didn’t want them to pass around their own half either, for fear of being pressed into ball turnover. Yet when they had the ball they were inept at keeping it, which set such a depressing tone.
The manager’s interval subs made a difference, but few will forget those excruciating 45 minutes, even if they will remember Rooney’s penalty and his joyous celebration.
Liverpool have such an embarrassment of riches they don’t have to play their Fab Four to look dangerous. But still many will question whether Jurgen Klopp was right to rest Firmino and Coutinho.
With such momentum from midweek, they would have been buzzing, yet the manager seemed to think he needed freshness after their European game. It was a risk, and Rooney’s goal made it look a bad one.
The England midfielder was finally introduced after 69 minutes and added some urgency to Arsenal’s play. And the France centre-forward, who came on three minute later, provided the finish and the point.
Arsene Wenger needs to try something different. But the rest of this season promises to be a battle for the final Champions League slot – and a bit of cup consolation.
Before the former QPR’s first Premier League start of the season against Everton, Southampton had scored nine goals in 12 games – and only four from open play.
Austin has now netted four in four – and eight goals in his last 11 Premier League starts for Southampton to lift them up to 10th.
It was also back-to-back home league wins for the first time this year.
Even at 11 points behind you wouldn’t write off a team of his quality or a manager of his class.
Especially the way that they made their critics look like mugs last season. But Chelsea look to have it all to do now.
They conceded early, struggled to break West Ham down and looked a team in need of some freshening up. Conte’s bench looked weak
We already know that he doesn’t fancy Michy Batshuayi. And questions have to be asked as to why Chelsea started so slowly against a side that were always going to be bang up for it.
They are still in the Champions League of course and will a force to be reckoned with in the cup competitions. But right now they have it all to do in the Premier League title race.
Could this spell, ironically, be the period in which rebuilding of David Moyes’ reputation?
The spent over a decade earning the respect of everyone within the game with his work at Preston and Everton - only to see his nightmare spell as a manager coincide the rise of the social media generation. His reigns at Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland all saw his stock plummet.
West Ham was widely regarded as a last-chance saloon for his managerial prospects in the Premier League.
A side previously shambolic under Slaven Bilic, however, suddenly look organised, efficient and hard to beat again.
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 11/12/2017 00:08:03
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| Petr Cech Criticises Arsenal Teammates After Southampton PerformanceSPORTBIBLE |
| | 3 reasons Arsenal shouldn’t sell Olivier Giroud in JanuaryDAILYCANNON |
| | Bad news for Wenger as Arsenal receive massive injury blow after Southampton drawREDLONDON |
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 11/12/2017 01:08:13
| | Inconsistent Ozil and vital Alexis? Who really was Arsenal’s worst player against Southampton?DAILYCANNON |
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| | Premier League: Olivier Giroud salvages draw for Arsenal against SouthamptonTHESTATESMAN |
|| Newcastle and Southampton target Alfonso Pedraza stars in Alaves’ 2-0 winHEREISTHECITY |
| | Xhaka needs dropped & other things we learned from Arsenal’s shambolic display at SouthamptonDAILYCANNON |
| | Arsenal Player Ratings: Southampton (A)READARSENAL |
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Premier League fans’ verdicts: Lukaku and Zlatan woeful up front
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A weekend brimming with top Premier League action culminated in thrilling Merseyside and Manchester derbies, while David Moyes’ West Ham defied all odds by beating Chelsea.
The title race looks to have taken a turn very much in a sky blue direction after City defeated rivals United in their own back yard, while Liverpool squandered victory in the derby with Everton to leave Jurgen Klopp livid and arguing with interviewers.
Here, Sportsmail gets the fans’ verdicts following the latest weekend of action…
We went into the Chelsea game fearing the worst but David Moyes’ side gave a masterful performance.
Reverting to a back five had helped solidify a porous defence and there is a visible improvement in structure and organisation.
Chelsea were limited to very few chances and that bodes well going forward. Moyes has begun to turn the corner and fans believe that he can guide us to safety.
Antonio Conte’s team and tactical selection coupled with the players’ lack of ideas in the final third has all but blown our chances of challenging for the title.
I wanted Chelsea to attack West Ham who are still trying to find their way under David Moyes. I was hoping we would play 3-4-3 with some rotation in the side from the Champions League in midweek but it never happened.
Credit West Ham for the way they started the game and for taking the one clear chance they created. Hazard and Morata wasted two good chances late on but by then it was all but done.
A lack of initiative and ideas as how to break down a hard-working, determined side cost us.
It was a biting cold day with a healthy snowfall but some things don’t change too much. Burnley secured another three points from another 1-0 win to retain seventh place.
It wasn’t an easy game. Watford started well but once we got going Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes was key to them keeping the score down.
Should they have had a player sent off? Should we not have had goals chalked off for offside? Who cares? That’s 28 points and we could never have dared hope for that total at this stage of the season.
Lee Probert has a knack for making controversial decisions to Watford’s detriment. At Turf Moor, this was again the case.
He sent off Marvin Zeegelaar for a challenge which was certainly not malicious. It may have been deemed reckless, but a yellow card could have sufficed.
Having to sacrifice Roberto Pereyra as a result didn’t help our cause, and neither did Probert then denying us a penalty shout moments before Burnley’s opener.
But, despite the referee’s decisions, we never truly got into the game. Sean Dyche will have had the last laugh against his old club, rather than Andre Gray.
This should have been all three points. The fact that it wasn’t will weigh heavily on the shoulders of out of form striker Christian Benteke.
Moments like that could be the difference between staying up and going down and the big Belgian will know only too well he made the wrong decision.
It is a point, though, and the good run of form continues with one loss in seven now.
This was a very tight contest but referee Kevin Friend did everything in his power to ruin the game with an abysmal performance.
A perfectly fair injury-time tackle on Wilfried Zaha almost cost Bournemouth the game.
Luckily Begovic saved Benteke’s spot kick, but Bournemouth had enough chances in the first half to run riot against Crystal Palace.
Defoe’s first goal was training-ground perfect and his second was sublime.
Even with Kevin Friend awarding two penalties against Bournemouth, they held on.
And will someone please give Zaha something to stop him falling over this Christmas?
A huge three points and a thoroughly dominant performance.
Although Brighton barely got out of their own half, Town started just as they have done all season at home - on the front foot.
After knocking on the door for a while, a set-piece broke the deadlock as the returning Mounie bundled in at the back post. Before the break it was 2-0 as Mounie scored again, with a header.
In the second period, the game opened up even more, and Town seemed to spurn chance after chance to extend the lead. Brighton got off lightly in the end, as the scoreline could have been embarrassing. However, Wagner will welcome any three points.
A bad day to have a bad day. While we seem to be going backwards, the teams below are finding form.
This was a far more frustrating beating than Liverpool last week.
We never got going and conceded first from a set-piece. Again! That is unacceptable at any level.
Strange selecions and strange performance, but no need to panic… yet.
What an unfamiliar feeling it is for the Swansea fans, walking out of the Liberty Stadium with three points!
It’s only the second time it’s happened this season, therefore this was a vital win if we were ever going to stay within touching distance of the other relegation rivals with Man City and Everton up next.
Swansea were far from brilliant, but did what they had to do against a very poor West Brom side. Wilfried Bony and Roque Mesa were the standouts in a game which lacked a lot of quality.
Despite a pretty uneventful 90 minutes of football, I’ll take any sort of win at the moment.
Spineless and embarrassing. It doesn’t matter if its Pulis, Pardew, Pep Guardiola or Peppa Pig in charge — the players have to do better.
We’re playing like a Championship side and come next season we’ll be just that.
Not one Premier League team would start with a right-hand side of Allan Nyom and Hal Robson-Kanu. I don’t think a League Two side would!
The January transfer window will make or break our season. We need to get rid of the deadwood and fast. Worst performance of our season by miles.
At last the kind of performance at Wembley against a smaller club that we needed.
Could and maybe should have been 10-1 but for Jack Butland’s fine display of keeping, with important goals for Kane and Eriksen that should hopefully push them towards getting back to top form for a Christmas run of good results.
Son’s drive and direct, pacy running caused Stoke problems all day. He really is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League.
Another game against a ‘top team’ and yet another thumping. Also, a fourth consecutive four-goal defeat against the same side, which creates a little bit of unwanted top flight history for us.
It’s hard to see how Mark Hughes can continue after yet another abject performance. We changed a winning team, went back to a five-man defence and still got pummelled, in a stadium where plenty of teams have given Spurs problems this season.
We’re averaging more than two goals a game against us this season and our manager seems to have lost the plot as well as most of the Stoke support!
There was no better way to symbolise Newcastle United’s 125 years as a club than this fixture.
Joselu and Dwight Gayle did well to combine for the goal to put Newcastle ahead, before Leicester netted twice to turn the game on it’s head.
The Magpies eventually got the scores back to level pegging before Ayoze Perez scored an own goal.
The simple mistakes and individual errors of the last few matches continued to haunt Rafa Benitez’s side. It is now very apparent that it is more than just a case of misfortune.
Puel has slightly altered the formation without changing the personnel allowing the creative pairing of Mahrez and gray to exploit slower defensive units.
Both being similar in the way they play, it has been a revelation and with both Gray and Marhez having a free role. One loss in 10 shows that this is working well.
In a game peppered with mistakes, Dwight Gayle thought he had salvaged a point when he equalised for Newcastle.
But substitute Perez thumped the ball into his own net four minutes from time in his efforts to prevent Okazaki from converting.
Would I have taken a point prior to kick-off? Absolutely.
But after digging so deep and failing to take numerous golden chances, It’s gut-wrenching to only come away with a single point.
Southampton limited Arsenal to few chances, showed a clear understanding of their managers game plan and played their part in a very entertaining fixture.
Jack Stephens, Ryan Bertrand and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in particular, were faultless throughout the entire 90 minutes.
There’s no denying that one win from seven is a cause for concern, but if we continue to show the organisation and fight that we showed today, it surely won’t be long before our fortunes turn.
More evidence that Arsenal are really not good enough to sustain a title push this season.
Arsene Wenger admitted after the game he hadn’t spoken about the issue of conceding early goals after the United game, and what a mistake that looked as his team repeated the trick a week later.
The day was saved in the end by cult hero Olivier Giroud. A lovely point given the context of the game, but overall, not good enough in a top four race that’s heating up.
Sadio Mane deciding to go for goal himself when he had three unmarked team-mates waiting for pass was a key moment.
A goal there would probably have seen the Reds run up a big score.
Other chances were not converted either, allowing a pitiful Everton team to hang around until referee Craig Pawson awarded them an incredibly soft penalty late on.
Wayne Rooney gleefully converted it to steal a point for the Blues. Given how bad Everton were, this is probably Liverpool’s worst result of the season.
After consistently going across the park and being obliterated, it was nice to go there and scrap, at the very least, something out of it.
However, the manner our team plays at Anfield is an absolute embarrassment. It’s like they’re genuinely scared of the opposition, apart from one or two players.
I know games aren’t won by possession or who has the higher number of shots, but having just over 20 per cent possession and two shots the entire game is a gross amount and it’s been the same for a number of years.
Unied were poor. Very poor, especially in the second half when we were terrible.
Lukaku and Ibrahimovic? Woeful up front when they should have been winning headers.
We are not on City’s level.
That feels like the title wrapped up already. If that United side are our closest challengers then we have nothing to worry about at all.
They were dreadful, with no creativity, no spark and just a series of aimless hoofs to Lukaku.
There was such a huge gulf between the teams … and we were nowhere near our best.
In fact, it was quite sloppy at times from City, we missed a ruthless edge and made more mistakes in possession than usual, but we were still such deserved and comfortable winners.
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 11/12/2017 02:08:27
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| Giroud to the rescue as Arsenal draw 1-1 at SouthamptonDAILYTIMESPK | ...silently sculpted by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 11/12/2017 03:08:41
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| Southampton 1-1 Arsenal: Match recapFANSIDEDSAINTSMARCHING |
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