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Southampton 0-2 Arsenal 5-Things

Monday

 

1.       So It Does Happen to Other Teams!

If this was an Arsenal keeper, we’d be absolutely fuming. It was a gift, but Eddie Nketiah worked for it. Pressuring defences won't always result in direct goals, but it's importance in the modern game is a given. Arteta will be delighted to see Eddie’s hard work rewarded. 

There has been suggestions the lack of intensity created by the crowd can cause a lack of concentration from players. Surely this is one example. The Saints fans would have been screaming for their keeper to release the ball quicker. Under pressure from Eddie, their defender plays a back pass. The keeper receives it comfortably but is the miles too casual trying to pass the ball out. The striker intercepts the pass and kicks it into an empty net. 1-0.

 

2.       Are You Arsenal in Disguise?

It doesn’t give me great joy, but it’s nice to write about someone else’s calamitous errors for a change. These kinds of mistakes have been far too frequent in Arsenal game for far too long. It’s a refreshing change to see the Saints produce another sloppy piece of defending under pressure from Arsenal. Poor defending or good pressure?

Southampton try to pass the ball along the back line, but it’s another bad pass that has the defender chasing the ball towards his own goal. Aubameyang is onto it like a flash, he quickly makes up the four or five yards handicap on the saints man. The striker was going past him and onto the ball, when the defender slid in and brought him down. Free-kick, red card and Southampton down to ten.

 

3.       The First of Many

This was Joe Willock’s first Premier League goal ever, despite scoring five this season. The youngster has the knack of being in the right place at the right time and a coolness in front of goal. It’s possible he can provide the goals Arsenal so desperately need from midfield.

The goal came from the free kick awarded for the red card. Lacazette blasted the ball into the wall. Luckily it rebounded straight to him, and he got a second go at it, which he smashed at the keeper. But the shot was too hard for the keeper who couldn’t hold on to the ball and spilled it forward. Willock was on his toes and rushed it to knock the ball home.

 

4.       Squeaky Clean

Leno must be stewing in his crutches. Keeping clean sheets has been an impossible task, like pushing an elephant up the stairs for the German. He has faced an embarrassing high number of shots and only been rewarded with seven clean sheets this season.

 

Martinez only faced three shots on target, but they were good saves and he looked relaxed. Last time he stepped-in, he had a run of good form then a sharp decline. Let’s hope he can produce a run of decent performances and prove to be a valuable stand-in keeper.

 

5.       Routine Win

In the last five head-to-head games Arsenal have won three and Southampton only one.  We should have gone into the game as clear favourites, but our away-form and last two performances have been terrible. Add to that our ever growing injury list, and you can’t blame any gunners fan for having a few doubts.

Two-nil score lines read as comfortable wins, even if stats or your eyes don’t agree. Happy goalkeepers and happy strikers. Aubameyang not scoring comes as a shock given he is responsible for most of our goals. He looked dangerous though and had an early effort deflected away off the crossbar. “Can we build or is this our level?” No, don’t do that. Enjoy the victories. Bask in their glory.

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