Southampton 1-0 Arsenal
by Layth Yousif

ARSENAL lost 1-0 to Southampton to see their Champions League ambitions further subside in front of 31,465 spectators at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday.

Mikel Arteta’s side fell to their third defeat in a row, and fourth in five games, after Jan Bednarek’s first half strike was enough to beat the misfiring Gunners on the sunny south coast.

Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying for European football’s lucrative top table next term suffered at the hands of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team, determined to banish memories of their humiliating 6-0 home defeat to Chelsea last weekend.

Following damaging losses at the hands of Crystal Palace, Brighton, and now the Saints, the Gunners slipped to sixth place, with frustration amplified after they were unable to capitalise on Spurs’ 1-0 defeat at home to Brighton in the day’s early kick-off.

Southampton’s 34-year-old keeper Fraser Forster produced an impressive performance, starting with an athletic save to deny Bukayo Saka sweeping home, prior to Bednarek finding the net in the 37th minute.

The 26-year-old former Lech Poznan defender emphatically fired the ball through Gunners goalie Aaron Ramsdale, who was unable to keep out the powerful strike.

Arsenal stepped up their intensity after the break, with substitute Emile Smith Rowe forcing another smart stop from Forster after he latched onto Yan Valery’s fluffed clearance, before Martin Odegaard angled his left-footed shot narrowly wide.

It was easy to see why Gareth Southgate recalled Forster to the England squad for the recent Three Lions double header against Switzerland and Ivory Coast, when he produced another excellent save to foil Granit Xhaka late on.

However, as the clock ticked down, despite increasingly desperate attempts by Arsenal to level, Southampton held on to record a memorable victory — and a satisfying clean sheet — after conceding 19 goals in their previous six matches.

“You have to put the ball in the net. You have to make the decisive moments count to win football matches — and at the moment we’re not doing that,” reflected Arsenal boss Arteta after the match, adding: “We’ve lost games in different ways – to lose the way we did today is difficult to explain.”

While the Gunners had 23 shots on goal, with six on target, Hasenhuttl’s tactical rejig, switching to a five man defence, helped to repel the Gunners as the Saints moved up to 12th spot.

“The most important thing is the clean sheet after six or seven games [without],” said Southampton’s relieved German boss, adding: “We’ve played much better games, especially with the ball, but today the target was a different one.”

Worse was to follow for Arteta as news emerged of Cristiano Ronaldo’s hattrick in the 3-2 victory over Norwich, which meant that Manchester United leapfrogged the Gunners in the race for Europe.

With Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and United at Asbburton Grove next Saturday, hopes are fast fading of a top four finish — in a desperately disappointing April for Arteta and Arsenal.

“If you saw the game, you’d say Arsenal had won comfortably,” rued Arteta.

Yes, but at a crucial juncture in the season, they failed too. Once again.