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Arsenal slipped to an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Southampton at St. Mary’s on Boxing Day as they missed a chance to go top of the league table. A first half wonder-strike from right-back Cuco Martina and three second-half goals were enough to give Southampton a much-deserved victory. A brace for Shane Long, and a header from Jose Fonte, meant the Saints regained their form and sprung a surprise.Arsene Wenger had named the same starting XI for the fourth straight game in all competitions, but the Gunners could not match their previous performances and suffered a could-be-costly defeat.Here are the major talking points from the game.
#1 Slow start from Arsenal
Arsenal started the game slow against a low-on-confidence Southampton side. The St. Mary’s crowd did enough to remind the Gunners whose place it was. But for Arsene Wenger’s side, Cuco Martina’s wonder-strike from 30 metres out could not have come at a worse time. The Gunners struggled to start their engine, having possession inside their half on multiple occasions.
There were factors involved which led to Arsenal’s slow start to the game, as both Koscielny and Mertesacker were lucky to have escaped without giving more goals away to the home side. The first major chance of the first half fell to Southampton, where Koscielny was involved with Southampton’s Ward-Prowse. Mertesacker was seen giving several back passes to his goalkeeper Petr Cech, which frustrated their fans.
A team consisting of Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud up front, will have hoped to play aggressively. But they lacked a certain zip in the team, and they paid for it dearly when they went behind to Southampton. A 4-0 loss should put them in a place where they will ascertain what went wrong, and starting the game strongly is one of the factors that wins you games.
#2 Cuco Martina? Who?
For the Southampton fans, Cuco Martina could not have scored that stunning goal from long range at a better time. His stunning curling right-footed shot on the half-volley with the outside of his foot gave Arsenal keeper Petr Cech no chance. The 26-year old Martina has been capped 20 times by the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao.
He joined the Saints from FC Twente in the summer, but this was his first start in the Premier League for the club. His first full game for Southampton and he introduces himself in great style by scoring one of the goals of the season.
Having lost their regular right-back, Cedric Soares, who got injured in training, Cuco Martina replaced him perfectly. Martina had made three Premier League appearances for the Saints before the game. Keeping a clean sheet and performing well overall, Ronald Koeman will have a selection problem ahead of their game against West Ham United on Monday night.
Martina also became the 93rd player of a different nationality to score in the Premier League.
#3 Arsenal pass the opportunity to go top of the table
In one of the most amazing fashions, Arsenal crumbled to a defeat where they seemed out of sorts throughout the game. It was a golden opportunity for the Gunners to go top of the table as Leicester City lost to Liverpool earlier in the day. Going into this game Arsenal had won four-straight games in all competitions with the Gunners flying.
But to Wenger’s disappointment, Arsenal faltered. The away side’s win over Manchester City on Monday night was a big statement but maybe a statement too big. Because it suddenly made Arsenal title favourites.
Being favourites brings a very different set of expectations and pressure on any side. From Arsenal’s dim performance at St Mary’s, it would appear that the Gunners struggle under the spotlight. In fact, worse than that, it would suggest they cannot handle the pressure and don’t have the bottle to go all the way. This was their big opportunity to regain top spot, but they couldn’t grasp it.
Players such as Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil, were anonymous throughout the game. That perhaps says as much about Arsenal’s mental strength and their ability to sustain a title challenge. A game that they should have won comfortably and made a statement to the world, Arsenal produced their worst performance of the season so far.
#4 Southampton\'s march forward!
The inside back page of the Southampton matchday programme contained the following message:
“Relegation. Meltdown. The papers wrote us off. But we didn’t. We believed. Stood strong. Knew what we were capable of and proved them all wrong. We scored 65 goals. Amassed our highest ever Premier League finish. But that’s last season. History. And history doesn’t win you games, score you goals, make you run faster, work harder or shout louder. We do that. Every single one of us. We never stop. We keep moving forwards. Together as one. WE MARCH ON.”
And on Saturday night, Southampton did march on. The clean-sheet was probably the most important factor for the Saints. Having conceded 13 goals in all competitions in their last five games, the hosts needed a better display from their defenders. That is what they got.
In attack, Southampton had failed to score in three of their last five Premier League games, only scoring two in the process. But against Arsenal, the Saints looked like a top drawer team, who has found its form going into the new year.
#5 Refereeing decisions hurt Arsenal
Arsenal looked the more composed side in the opening stages, but they gradually surrendered the momentum to Southampton, who started to grow in confidence. Ozil was careless in possession compared to recent weeks and midway through the first half, Southampton took the lead through Martina.
However, in the build-up to Southampton’s first goal, Steven Davis was marginally offside. By the width of an arm. But still offside which was not given by the linesman. Goal-line technology has worked wonders in the Premier League, but errors in other parts of the pitch have been hurting and benefitting teams. In the same way, Arsenal were hurt and Southampton benefitted.
There was no reprieve for Arsenal ten minutes into the second half also. Walcott had given the ball away carelessly deep in Arsenal’s half and Southampton broke at lightning speed. Long played the ball wide to Mane and then went for the return, tangling with Koscielny and appearing to trip him in the process. The foul was not seen by the referee somehow and cost Arsenal as Mane’s return ball was inch perfect and Long swept it past Cech.
Two bad decisions cost the Gunners, along with their inability to match Southampton’s work-rate and desire to win.
