Arsenal 3-1 Southampton, player rating and match reaction
Raya 6.5 - Didn’t have much to do other than pick the ball out of his net, and there wasn’t much he could do about that.
Partey 6 - Physically strong and tried to support the attack the way White does but didn’t really have it in him
Saliba 6.5 - Not a lot to do
Gabriel 7 - Seemed to like the physicality of todays game and pushing forward
Calafiori 7 - Technically very good, won back possession and started attacks more than once
Jorginho 7 - Kept things ticking over
Rice 7 - Had more impact on our attacking play in the second half
Havertz 7.5 - Worked hard first half but clearly wasn’t comfortable in the hole and began to drift wide, strikers finish for the equaliser
Sterling 6 - Lacked the physicality to consistently beat his full back, and wasteful when he had shooting opportunities
Jesus 4 - And I think that’s generous, I think we need to consider buying him out of his contract
Saka 7.5 - Kept plugging away and was by far our most industrious attacker first half, got the goal for his efforts
Subs
Martinelli 8 - For the time he was on the pitch he was our best player, electric pace and physical strength
Trossard 7 - Worked hard, and certainly added more to proceedings than Sterling or Jesus
Merino 7 - Largely kept things ticking over much like Jorginho had
Tomiyasu and Kiwior - 6.5
To say I was underwhelmed would be an understatement, the lineup was a complete joke and it’s only because Arteta saw the extent of his folly and changed things early that this wasn’t dropped points. Not because Southampton were good, they were hopeless. The only thing they were good for apart from the goal that came out of nowhere was diving and fouling. Horrible bunch of cheats, the sooner they are back in the championship the better I think.
I don’t know, maybe I’m being harsh but I expect games like this to be an easy three points and the fact that we had to come from behind results from an unnecessarily poor lineup, the type Arteta kept monkeying around with at the beginning of the season. It doesn’t matter if we are playing a team that is championship level at best, if you don’t play players in their correct position you come unstuck.
