NOVEMBER has statistically been a bleak month for Arsenal but this season has been as bad as it gets. 

Alexandre Lacazette’s 96th minute equaliser may have rescued a point for his side but what’s most disturbing for fans is the manner of the 2-2 draw at home to a Southampton side who sit 19th in the league table.

An 18-point return after 13 games represents the Gunners’ worst ever start to a Premier League campaign and head coach Unai Emery was unable to articulate any explanation for his side’s dismal predicament.

“My job is to work and analyse and find solutions to how we can improve,” he said. “We’re disappointed and frustrated and we didn’t deserve any more today. To take confidence we need to play better.”

Record signing Nicolas Pepe reported back late from international duty but his omission from the starting XI raised a lot of eyebrows. Not least because Emery had opted to field five defenders against a side with the worst defensive record in the division. Only Mesut Ozil was supporting a front two of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and double goalscorer Lacazette.

“We are finding a solution with three centre backs to feel stronger defensively,” Emery explained. “The second half, I changed it because we needed to attack more and we maybe had the best 20 minutes of the season.”

With the score at 1-1, Pepe was brought on for Calum Chambers and the Ivorian’s introduction gave Southampton considerably more to think about. Aubameyang had an effort well saved by Alex McCarthy while Pepe’s wait for a first Arsenal goal from open play continues, seeing his scissor kick cannon into the turf and back off the crossbar.

But for all their own chances to take the lead, the Gunners were leaving themselves dangerously exposed at the back, giving the Saints a flurry of gilt-edged opportunities of their own.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos had his pocket picked by Cedric Soares who tried to square for Michael Obafemi to touch into an open goal but the pass was skewed wildly, giving Arsenal a huge let off.

Soon after, another defensive mistake allowed the visitors to take a deserved 1-2 lead when Kieran Tierney was adjudged to have pulled Danny Ings’s shirt. 

It’s the fifth penalty the Gunners have conceded this season, more than any other side in the league. Bernd Leno saved from the spot, but James Ward-Prowse was able to tap in the rebound.

Southampton could have put the game to bed when Moussa Djenepo’s shot had beaten Leno but substitute Joe Willock had dutifully tracked back to make a vital goal-line clearance.

Seven minutes of added time allowed Lacazette to equalise with just seconds to play. It was scarcely even celebrated by his teammates who knew this was one of their most abject performances in a season already defined by shortcomings and deficiencies.