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[Player ratings] Southampton 1-0 Arsenal: Cedric woeful

By mac14 on April 16, 2022

Arsenal produced another tepid performance to lose 1-0 against Southampton at St Mary’s this afternoon.

Bukayo Saka almost opened the scoring but Fraser Forster produced a superb save to keep it at 0-0 and that proved to be a big turning point in the game.

Southampton broke the deadlock just before half time when Jan Bednarek lashed home from close range after Arsenal failed to clear a corner. We dominated possession in the second half and had a couple of decent chances but Forster made two more superb stops.

Arsenal couldn’t find a way through and lacked any ideas going forward. It was painful to watch at times as we just passed the ball about with no end product. Southampton held out to secure a 1-0 win, consigning Arsenal to our third consecutive defeat which probably ends any hope of fourth – considering our remaining fixtures.

Here are my ratings:

Ramsdale 6/10 | Got an arm to Bednarek’s strike but it was too powerful to keep out. Not really tested otherwise.

Cedric 4/10 | Good block early in the second half but his deliveries were embarrassing all game. Corners, free-kicks and crosses were shocking. Rightly hauled off in the second half.

White 5/10 | Was down injured just before the goal and seemed the be caught out of position as a result. Frustrating afternoon as Southampton weren’t really a threat after their goal.

Gabriel 5/10 | Dealt with Broja well but Southampton offered little going forward for him to deal with.

Tavares 6.5/10 | Great to see him putting in a solid performance. Much better positionally and didn’t put a foot wrong. Kept things simple.

Lokonga 6/10 | Did nothing wrong but is such a downgrade on Partey. Every ball is sideways and he does very little else.

Xhaka 6/10 | Much happier in midfield but again he is too passive most of the time. A midfield of Lokonga and Xhaka has no spark at all.

Saka 5/10 | Should have opened the scoring but was denied by a stunning save from Forster. The Saints keeper made another smart save from Saka late on. Wasn’t his day.

Odegaard 5/10 | A quiet day for the stand-in skipper. Struggled to have an impact and his link-up play was too predictable. Scuffed a shot wide late on.

Martinelli 5/10 | Didn’t pose a threat. Couldn’t get the better of a deep Saints defence in the second half. Frustrating afternoon.

Nketiah 5/10 | His pace added a new dimension to the Arsenal attack at times. Stretched the Saint defence in the first half but struggled after the break when they sat back. Did his best but his link-up play is so poor.

Subs:

Smith Rowe 5/10 | Scuffed shot was superbly saved by Forster.

Pepe 5/10 | Couldn’t add any spark to a limp Arsenal attack.

This performance was shocking, especially considering the players had just seen Tottenham lose at home to Brighton. There was very little urgency or effort and it looked like a training game at times.

The injuries haven’t helped but there is no way Arsenal should be putting in the performances they have in recent games when battling for fourth. The collapse has been shocking, and Arteta should now be under huge pressure to turn things around.