IT’S true that, at Arsenal, when it rains it pours. Despite being reduced to 10-men for the third time in five matches, the Gunners clung on to draw 1-1 with high-flying Southampton and provide some much-needed respite for manager Mikel Arteta.

“At the end, if you lose a game again it would’ve been really difficult to take,” said the Spaniard on the unthinkable prospect of falling to a fifth consecutive home defeat that would have spelt the club’s worst sequence in history. 

But prospects are seldom set in stone. So when Theo Walcott scored against his former side to rub salt in the Gunners’ gaping wounds, it felt especially fitting for a club seemingly in perpetual disarray. 

With a handful of suspensions to contend with, Arteta was forced to make a host of changes to his side. The underperforming big-ticket items of Willian and Alexandre Lacazette were jettisoned to make way for the youthful and enthusiastic Eddie Nketiah and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. 

The alterations made a notable impact. Maitland-Niles, who has shone in the Europa League, linked up nicely with Nicolas Pepe who forced a series of saves from Alex McCarthy. Arsenal had ranked lowest in the league in terms of chances created but they were clearly under duress to put that right. 

Saints’ opener capitalised on a rare error of judgement by Gabriel, which allowed Che Adams to slide in Walcott.

Walcott rolled back the years by chipping tidily over the out-rushing Bernd Leno, the 31-year-old celebrated his goal excitedly in the empty stadium, and rightly so for this effort — his second of the season — had, at least momentarily, sent his boyhood club to the top of the Premier League table. 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was first to emerge from the dressing room at half-time, a cold look of intent in his eyes. The equaliser came shortly after the restart, a goal of supreme quality and immense significance. 

It was only the captain’s third of the campaign and the team’s first league goal from open play in over 13 hours. It suddenly felt like an immense weight had been lifted, in this game and in Arsenal’s season.

“Hopefully it’s going to change everything dramatically and he’s going to score every game because this is what we need at the moment,” Arteta explained. “We need the points and in order to do that we need to score many more goals and be more efficient when we have the chances.” 

The goal swung momentum decisively in the hosts’ favour, but it was short-lived. Whether you see Arteta as the victim or cause of the ill-discipline pervading this squad, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him when Gabriel picked up two yellow cards within a few minutes to become Arsenal’s third player to see red this season. 

Unlike the previous two instances, the defender could understandably feel hard done by. 

So they were again forced to see out a significant chunk of a match severely handicapped. There was an irony about David Luiz being sent on to assist in stymying Southampton’s attack after yet more foolishness. Substitute Nathon Redmond almost heaped further misery on his opponents when he struck the corner of the woodwork late on. 

Rob Holding made two vital clearances to ensure they survived before heading against the woodwork at the other end to nearly snatch an unlikely victory. As it was, the draw felt more like a win for Arteta who can now use the time this buys him to find a longer-term fix for a long list of ailments.