Southampton 3-2 Arsenal: 4 things observed | Premier League 2018-19

Finally, the much talked about unbeaten run in 22 matches across all competitions has come to an end. Suffice to say, we all knew that one way or another, the run would come to an end.

However, many did not expect it would come against a side such as Southampton, a team battling against relegation. But The Gunners have learned their lessons, there is no doubt about that.

In the article i wrote prior to the game against The Saints, I pointed out a number of things which could be evident in the game. These factors eventually came to bare, as we saw during the game. Lets take a look at four things we observed from the game.

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#1 Southampton capitalised on Arsenal's make-shift back-line

Charlie Austin scores the winner from a Bernd Leno error

Arsenal went into the game with a handful of suspensions and injuries to defenders. Sokratis and Mustafi were both ruled out of the game due to suspensions and injuries respectively, while Rob Holding is certainly out for the season, as a result of the injury he sustained against Manchester United a couple of weeks ago.

This situation left Arsenal with returning Laurent Koscielny as the only recognised centre back. Nacho Monreal and Stephan Lichtsteiner are full backs. They only deputised in that position.

Arsenal played with a back three of Xhaka, Koscielny, and Stephan Lichtsteiner. The duo of Xhaka and Stephan Lichtsteiner are not very mobile, and the movement of Danny Ings and Charlie Austin caused them problems. Arsenal conceded 3 goals from set plays, which sums up the fact that they did not particularly cover themselves in glory defensively.

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#2 Arsenal's profligacy in front of goal

Aubameyang was at fault for missing gilt edged chances in the game

Arsenal were guilty of missing gilt edged chances, and could have seen off the game. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was often the culprit, as he had chances both in the first half and second half to put The Gunners in front for the first time in the game, but he was wasteful. Alexandre Lacazette also missed a good opportunity in the second half.

#3 Bernd Leno's mistakes

Bernd Leno mistimed a cross into the box which led to Charlie Austin's late winner

Bernd Leno has been in good from this season. Since Petr Cech's injury, he has been pretty solid between the sticks for Arsenal.

However, in recent times he seems to be making mistakes leading to goals. In the game against Tottenham a couple of weeks back, he was largely at fault for the first goal scored by Eric Dier, due to his failure to deal with a close range header by the Spurs midfielder.

In the game against Liverpool at the Emirates some weeks ago, his failure to deal with a harmless cross gave James Milner room to shoot at goal, putting The Reds ahead.

In the game against United, he was partly at fault when he parried a free kick unconvincingly, which fell to a United player who squared the ball for Martial to draw United level.

He looks a bit complacent at times, which is something he has to watch because Petr Cech will be ever ready to reclaim his place as Arsenal's #1.

#4 Lack of concentration evident

Arsenal had lapses in concentration during patches of the game

There were some moments in the game when The Gunners were not at their best in terms of concentration levels, and The Saints made the most of these weak moments in the game, making The Gunners pay.

Alex Iwobi pointed this out in his post-match comments.This is what he had to say:

"I guess we weren't concentrating throughout the 90 minutes. We had spells where we weren't defending well as a group. It's something we have to dust ourselves down from and keep on going. We can't let our heads drop from this defeat, we just have to push on to the next match"