Arsenal faced off with Southampton in a Premier League clash at St Mary’s – a game they were expected to win.
However, when all was said and done on the south coast, Arsenal were forced to settle for a share of the points.
Arsenal took an early lead through Granit Xhaka, but failed to capitalise on their dominance, leading to Stuart Armstrong pegging the Gunners back in the second half.
And when Arsenal were in need of a second goal, Mikel Arteta made some questionable changes.
Gabriel Martinelli was taken off for Eddie Nketiah, with Mikel Arteta opting to use the striker out on the left-wing, instead of in his favoured central role.
Then, somewhat bizarrely, Martin Odegaard was taken off for Fabio Vieira. The Norwegian had been one of Arsenal’s better players in the second 45, creating several chances and scoring himself (the goal was ruled out as the ball went out of play in the build-up).
As per football.london: “The Norwegian had created a fantastic opportunity for Nketiah moments before his withdrawal and as others around him allowed their standard to drop he battled hard to keep them high across the team, and could be seen yelling at Gabriel Martinelli on one occasion to drop back into position to help the team when the Brazilian switched off and stayed too high at a set piece.”
When Odegaard went off, though, Arsenal lost any real threat and were forced to settle for a draw.
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