Arsenal fought back from two goals down to draw 3-3 against bottom of the table side Southampton at the Emirates stadium. In a thrilling encounter which saw the league leaders concede two quick goals in the opening 14 minutes of the game, they showed their fighting spirit once again by scoring two quick fire goals in the last two minutes of the 90 minutes normal time.
Carlos Alcaraz scored after about 30 seconds after kick-off to hand the visitors an early lead after a gift from Arsenal’s goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. The Argentine then set up former Arsenal man Theo Walcott with a sublime defence splitting through ball just 13 minutes later to further extend the away team’s lead. In the 20thminute, Brazilian forward Gabriel Martinelli pulled one back for the gunners in what was his record-tying 15 league goal of the campaign which sees him match Roberto Firmino’s tally of the highest scoring Brazilian in the premier league for a single campaign.
The second-half came with more misery for Mikel Arteta’s side as substitute Duje Caleta-Car scored in the 66th minute to extend the away side lead and restore back the 2-goal margin. Arsenal kept persisting and knocking on the doors of their opponent’s goal but couldn’t find an answer until skipper Martin Odegaard drilled a smooth shot to the bottom corner in the 88th minute to give the home fans some hope for a comeback. Just 2 minutes later, Bukayo Saka made it 3-3 in a dramatic comeback and lifted the spirits of his teammates and make the atmosphere at the stadium a whole lot more electrifying. The gunners went in search of a winning goal and had 8 minutes additional time to do so but couldn’t find it even after going close on so many occasions and having two penalty appeals waved away.
Arsenal now seem to be losing their hold on the premier league title after 3 consecutive draws. They sit 5 point above Manchester city but face their closest rival on Wednesday at the Etihad in what looks like ‘the final’ of the league as both teams admit the winner of the clash goes home with the title. Manchester city although have played two games less than Arsenal owing to their engagements in the FA cup.