Arsenal v Southampton (2020-21)

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Arsenal v Southampton (2020-21)

Arsenal Southampton 1 1
HT:0–1 Report
Event	Premier League 2020-21
Date	Wednesday 16 December 2020
Venue	Emirates Stadium, London
Player of the Match	Jannik Vestergaard
Referee	Paul Tierney
Attendance	0
Weather	10 °C (50 °F)
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Arsenal v Southampton was a match which took place at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday 16 December 2020.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hopes a draw with Southampton will prove the start of his side's recovery after they ended a three-match losing run in the Premier League despite going down to 10 men.

Theo Walcott opened the scoring for the in-form Saints on his return to his former club with a delightful dink over onrushing goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

But Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finished smartly after the break to level as Arsenal ended a run of 797 minutes in the Premier League without a goal from open play.

However, the Gunners' ill-discipline cost them once again as Gabriel was sent off after being booked twice in four minutes.

Substitute Nathan Redmond struck the crossbar soon after as Southampton pressed for a winner that would have moved them briefly top of the league.

The visitors could not make their pressure pay and almost conceded at the other end late on when Rob Holding's header also rattled the woodwork.

The draw lifts Southampton above Leicester City into third, while Arteta's side remain 15th in what is Arsenal's worst start to a top-flight campaign since the 1974-75 season.

"We showed some resilience and character to hang in there for so long against a really dangerous team," said Arteta.

"We came back after conceding the goal and showed how much we wanted it."

Asked if the manner of the fightback could start a recovery, Arteta added: "I agree, yes, because if you lose that game at the end it would have been really difficult to take."

Arteta has said his side cannot hide and "have to take the bullets" amid their worst start to a season for 46 years - what he did not want was another red card.

The hosts were starting to build some momentum after Aubameyang combined with Eddie Nketiah to finish coolly following smart footwork from Bukayo Saka.

But within 10 minutes they were down to 10 men, as Gabriel picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Walcott - Arsenal's seventh sending-off in the Premier League since Arteta took charge in December last year.

It was also a third red card in five matches for Arsenal and Arteta said afterwards he wanted to change Gabriel after his first booking, but did not have the time.

The Gunners have not won in the competition since beating Manchester United at Old Trafford six weeks ago.

But, having named Arsenal's youngest starting XI in the league since September 2012, Arteta will have been encouraged by the resilience shown by his team following Gabriel's dismissal.

This was the Spaniard's 50th fixture in charge of the north London club, and he has won more games in cup matches (14) than in the Premier League (13).

His side's finish to 2020 does not let up with games against Everton and Chelsea in the league, and Manchester City in the EFL Cup, in the next 10 days, before a trip to Brighton.

Walcott scored 108 goals in 397 appearances in the 12 years he spent at Arsenal after joining from Southampton in 2006, with only Robin van Persie and Olivier Giroud having netted more than his 38 top-flight goals at Emirates Stadium.

With his career threatening to stagnate at Everton, the 31-year-old is back at his boyhood club on loan this term and flourishing in a Southampton side brimming with confidence.

The visitors dominated possession early on in north London and Walcott's deft finish after 18 minutes came as they continued to stretch the Arsenal backline.

"We were fantastic, did everything we wanted to do in the game," said Walcott. "We just wanted to concentrate on our strengths, we know how good we are as a unit - we have so much trust and are so honest with each other."

Walcott's goal came from Che Adams' smart pass and the Southampton forward was a handful for the Arsenal backline throughout.

Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said afterwards he was happy with a point but there must be a tinge of frustration his side could not take all three.

Match

Details

16 December 2020 18:00 GMT	Arsenal	1–1	Southampton	Emirates Stadium, London Attendance: 0 Referee: Paul Tierney
	Aubameyang  52' Gabriel  58', 62'	HT:0–1 Report	Walcott  18'

Arsenal

Southampton

01 Bernd Leno 16 Rob Holding 06 Gabriel  58', 62' 03 Kieran Tierney 15 Ainsley Maitland-Niles 08 Dani Ceballos 67' 25 Mohamed Elneny 07 Bukayo Saka 19 Nicolas Pépé 85' 30 Eddie Nketiah 65' 14 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Substitutes: 09 Alexandre Lacazette 12 Willian 13 Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson 17 Cédric Soares 85' 20 Shkodran Mustafi 23 David Luiz 65' 28 Joe Willock Manager: Mikel Arteta

01 Alex McCarthy 02 Kyle Walker-Peters 35 Jan Bednarek 04 Jannik Vestergaard 03 Ryan Bertrand 17 Stuart Armstrong 63' 08 James Ward-Prowse 06 Oriol Romeu 32 Theo Walcott 63' 09 Danny Ings 10 Ché Adams Substitutes: 05 Jack Stephens 11 Nathan Redmond 63' 12 Moussa Djenepo 63' 22 Mohammed Salisu 27 Ibrahima Diallo 40 Dan N'Lundulu 44 Fraser Forster Manager: Ralph Hasenhüttl

Man of the Match: Jannik Vestergaard Assistant referees: Dan Cook Sian Massey-Ellis Fourth official: Andre Marriner

Match rules 90 minutes, no extra time or penalties. Three points awarded to winner, none to loser. One point awarded to each in the event of a draw. Seven named substitutes Maximum of three substitutions

Match Stats

• Match Stats

Overall	Arsenal	Southampton
Goals scored	1	1
Total shots	9	13
Shots on target	4	3
Ball possession	35%	65%
Corner kicks	2	7
Fouls committed	13	13

See also

• 2020-21 Premier League: Match day 13

External links

• Match report at BBC.co.uk
• Match report at Premier League.com

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