- Arsenal make contact to sign Lille star Jonathan David
- Arsenal keen on signing Newcastle star Alexander Isak
- Arsenal ‘interested’ in signing Bayern Munich star Sane
- Arsenal showing ‘strong interest’ in signing Hugo Larsson
- Confirmed line-ups: Inter Milan vs Arsenal – Odegaard returns, Merino starts
- Arsenal predicted line-up against Inter Milan
- Arsenal eye move to sign Eintracht Frankfurt star Larsson
- Arsenal could attempt to sign Newcastle star Alexander Isak
- Arsenal to make a move to sign Mohammed Kudus
- Confirmed line-ups: Newcastle vs Arsenal – Gabriel & Timber start for Gunners
[Player Ratings] Southampton 1-1 Arsenal: Sanchez & Mertesacker woeful
Arsenal needed a late equaliser from Olivier Giroud to salvage a 1-1 draw with Southampton at St Mary’s this afternoon.
More shocking defending, this time from Mertesacker, gifted Southampton an early lead but after failing to turn our dominant possession in to chances, Giroud finally snatched a point late on.
Here are my ratings:
Cech 6/10 | Good save to deny Austin a second goal. Proved to be an important save.
Koscielny 5/10 | Worryingly poor at times. Shocking defending should have cost us another goal in the second half. Doesn’t look himself.
Mertesacker 4/10 | At fault for the opening goal and another error should have led to a second goal a minute later. Well past his best.
Monreal 5.5/10 | Could also have done better for the opener as he was caught the wrong side of Austin and didn’t track his run.
Bellerin 5/10 | Caught too far forward on occasion which left acres of space for the hosts to exploit. End product in the final third was poor too.
Ramsey 6/10 | Forced Forster in to a superb save midway through the second half but not at his best overall.
Xhaka 5/10 | Lost possession countless times and offered little in terms of incisive passes forward. Just moved the ball sideways all afternoon. Should be replaced by Wilshere at West Ham.
Kolasinac 5/10 | Reluctant to get forward and was sloppy in possession.
Sanchez 4/10 | Soooo frustrating. Minimal effort put in, held on to possession and slowed down our attacks but he did assist the Giroud goal. Needs to be dropped against West Ham as we can’t keep carrying him.
Ozil 6/10 | Our most threatening attacker when on the ball but guilty of making the wrong pass at times, which isn’t like him.
Lacazette 5/10 | Should have scored at least two in the first half and unlucky not to win a penalty. Not his day.
Subs:
Welbeck 5/10 | Offered little from the bench.
Wilshere 6/10 | At least Jack took a few players on and found a couple of decent passes to cut Southampton open. Deserves a chance from the start.
Giroud 6.5/10 | Lovely glancing header to make it 1-1.
WATCH THE GOALS FROM SOUTHAMPTON 1-1 ARSENAL HERE
So another poor away performance and more abject defending costs us two points. It’s certainly going to be a battle to finish in the top four if we keep playing like this on the road. West Ham away up on Wednesday….