match report – player ratings – by the numbers – Video
As we have done more than once this season, Arsenal started yesterday’s match brilliantly and quickly outplayed the opposition. In the 11th minute, Gabriel Jesus was intervened but sanctioned for offside; Bukayo Saka effervescent at a really dangerous intersection; Granit Xhaka forced the goalkeeper to make a good save; and Martin Odegaard clipped a shot wide when he should have hit the target.
That pressure was felt at the end when Ben White stepped up in the 12th minute, returning the ball to the center of the area and there was Xhaka to finish off another forehand goal on the half volley to make it 1-0. And it was nothing less than what we deserved based on how we were playing.
What happened next was a pivotal moment in the game for me. Jesus received a clear foul going around the wrong side of Caleta-Car, and not only should it have been a penalty, it could easily have been a red card for the defender. He made no attempt to play the ball and was clearly denying a scoring opportunity. Assuming we had scored the penalty, 2-0 against 10 men for 75 minutes is a very different game. Instead, the referee played on, VAR obviously having a day off and setting the tone for what was to come.
He told Southampton that mistreating players inside the box was not going to be punished, so they did it everywhere they could, Jesus being the main recipient of that treatment. Time and time again, the defender put his arms around him, clearly pinning and obstructing him, and each time the referee allowed play to continue. I’m all for a physical game, but a foul is a foul, regardless of the ‘Let it flow’ motto that PGMOL has implemented this season. Letting the game flow is not the same as letting players commit repetitive fouls without censorship.
It added to the frustration when Saka received a ridiculous booking for the simulation, and this continued throughout the game. When there comes a point where a guy gives a very obvious header, like Lyanco did to Eddie Nketiah later, before putting his hands on his face (remember Xhaka v Burnley?), and only a yellow card is dealt from reluctantly, you know. something is wrong. In all honesty, I can’t remember an officiating display like this before.
Still, that’s something we can’t control, and what we could control we didn’t do well enough. Southampton’s switch to a back five in the first half stopped our momentum, but they didn’t threaten much except a succession of corners that Ward-Prowse launched well and defended well (I even think one or two of them were generous decisions for the home side). ).
Jesus hit the side net; Martinelli’s brilliant streak deserved more than the corner kick he took; Saka had a chance; and Odegaard’s brilliant combination with Jesus should have taken us 2-0 at the break, but the striker’s shot lacked a bit of conviction and hit Gavin Bazunu squarely. I don’t think he’s been the same since the Liverpool game when he took that hit to the head.
There were warning signs in the second half as we struggled to create the chances we created in the first. William Saliba made a big mistake, but luckily he came to nothing. Once again, Jesus had a chance to make it 2-0 after working hard to get it back before Odegaard sent it clean, but he took a bad touch before a meek shot that allowed the defender to block it. A key moment that was under our control and we did not make the most of it.
That was in the 60th minute. Five minutes later they were level. A step up in midfield saw them break the lines, and from deep Stuart Armstrong raced into the box to level. I wonder if better communication from William Saliba with Ben White might have helped, as he could see the run the Southampton man was making, but there didn’t seem to be a shout and the right-back was caught off guard at the end. 1-1.
Mikel Arteta immediately stood up, gesturing to his players to raise their level. Conceding is part of football, it’s how you react, and the most disappointing aspect of yesterday was that, in my opinion, the last 20 minutes were the most sloppy of the entire season. The ball didn’t hit, the passes didn’t go where they were supposed to, players got caught in possession over and over again.
Later, the manager said:
We stop doing all the simple things well. The distances in the ball positions were too much, we gave away too many simple balls in very dangerous areas without much pressure and that did not allow us much continuity like the one we had in the first half.
As frustrating as the officiating was, we didn’t do what we’re capable of. Substitutes didn’t really help, though I think Kieran Tierney’s introduction gave us more down the left side. Could he have had a penalty? I can’t say for sure, because like the incident in the first half when Ben White seemed to have been pushed very clearly, we didn’t get any replays, so it’s hard to be conclusive. However, you can hear a very definite “slap” on the television coverage and the way he went down grabbing his neck suggests that he took a hit. VAR? No idea.
What I would say is against a team like Southampton, his ability to overlap in a way that Takehiro Tomiyasu didn’t give us more of a threat and I think he should have started. We had the ball in the net through Odegaard, but Tierney’s cut came after the ball had gone behind the baseline. Fabio Vieira entered and offered little, contributing more than anything to the sloppiness of the final stages of the game.
Overall, it was a frustrating day, and it’s perfectly possible to admit that we didn’t do enough with the chances we had, as well as admitting that the refereeing was a disaster. Both things can be true at the same time. The latter does not excuse the former, and if we had done better with good scoring opportunities, the referee would no longer be as relevant. Yet on a day when he didn’t, he remains an unfortunate topic of conversation.
Arteta again:
No complains. this is football. We were very good in the first half and we totally controlled the game, we created a lot of great chances that we didn’t waste. In the Premier League, unfortunately, if you don’t do that when you’re at the top of the game, you can have some difficulties.
He won’t say anything publicly about the refereeing, but I’m sure there must be some frustration. Nicolas Jover was booked after all. However, he will focus more on increasing efficiency in the last third as the best solution and hopefully we will see that in the next few games.
St Mary’s has always been a tough place for us, and on the balance of the odds, we still should have won yesterday. Losing points is never pretty, but the big picture is that a draw away from home keeps us top of the table, and there will inevitably be games like this throughout the season. If we’re all looking at October and harboring some concerns about how the schedule might affect us, maybe we should write this down as one of those. Now, we bounce back and do better next weekend against Nottingham Forest after more midweek action against PSV.
Ok, let’s leave it there for now. James and I will be recording Arsecast Extra this morning. Keep an eye out for the call for questions on Twitter @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra, or if you’re an Arseblog member on Patreon, leave your question on the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord. server.
We’ll have the pod for you by lunchtime. Until then.
