ARSENAL’s title hopes all but went up in smoke against relegation battlers Southampton.
Mikel Arteta’s troops drew 3-3 with bottom-of-the-table Saints – who blew a two-goal lead late in the second half.
The draw with Ruben Selles’ side has seen Arsenal put defending champions Manchester City – who have two games in hand on them – in the driving seat for the remainder of the title race.
Here, SunSport’s Dan King rates and slates the performances of the floundering title hopefuls.
Arsenal player ratings
AARON RAMSDALE – 4
Made a terrible error inside 25 seconds and put Arsenal on the back foot. A decent double save midway through the first half was only partial redemption.
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Did not have a lot else to do for the rest of the night but he set the tone for the disaster.
BEN WHITE – 5
After recent goals and assists, was unable to do much in the attacking third, with some poor crosses. Did his work defensively until he allowed Bella-Kotchap to get the run on him from the corner for the Saints’ third goal.
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ROB HOLDING – 6
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Was strong in the air and did little wrong defensively, so it would be harsh to say he was any kind of weak link. Maybe he was not quite good enough on the ball, with some missed passes, but fulfilled his main role.
GABRIEL – 5
Left exposed for Southampton’s second goal but made it too easy for Walcott to score. His drop-off in form in Saliba’s absence has really undermined Arsenal’s defensive solidity. Off target with a first-half header.
OLEKSANDR ZINCHENKO – 4
On the ball, plenty, but failed to convince in a hybrid midfield role. Gave the ball away too much, although he was not the only Arsenal player guilty of that. Totally lost Caleta-Car for the third Saints goal that killed the game and maybe their title challenge.
MARTIN ODEGAARD – 5
Wayward pass led to Southampton’s second goal on a rare off-day. Played a part in Arsenal’s first goal, and scored the second, but overall did not deliver a captain’s performance when his team really needed one.
THOMAS PARTEY – 5
He was there, but not quite there. With both his midfield partners in the starting line-up struggling, the Gunners needed him to step up and take the lead. But without being too poor, he went through the motions rather than setting agenda.
FABIO VIEIRA – 4
His lightweight performance, until substituted, summed up Arsenal’s night. Lacked the presence of Granit Xhaka, giving Southampton the initiative in midfield. Underlined the lack of depth that may well end up costing the Gunners.
BUKAYO SAKA – 8
Had the beating of Romain Perraud from start and set up Martinelli’s goal beautifully. Needed to be given more of ball to make that superiority count. Kept trying to make things happen and grabbed equaliser.
GABRIEL JESUS – 4
Chose the wrong night to give the least convincing performance since his return. His touch was off and he struggled to get into game, failing to find positions and runs that could hurt the Saints. Spooned over from six yards at key moment.
GABRIEL MARTINELLI – 7
Along with Saka, the only Arsenal player to live up to anything like the reputation gained over the previous 31 games of the season. A threat almost every time he had the ball, but did not have enough team-mates on form to make it tell.
SUBS
LEANDRO TROSSARD (for Vieira, 57) – 6
Found it hard to reproduce previous match-changing contributions but hit the bar in stoppage-time
EEDDIE NKETIAH (for Zinchenko, 72) – 5
Struggled to make an impression and was the least effective of three Arsenal subs
REISS NELSON (for Martinelli, 85) – 6
His shot was parried to Saka for the equaliser and had late effort deflected agonisingly wide.
Subs not used
Turner, Tierney, Smith Rowe, Kiwior, Jorginho and Walters.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
