SAINTS’ GIFT OF THE GAB Hasenhuttl’s battlers
Brazilian’s own goal sees holders crash out to
MIKEL ARTETA’S hopes of retaining the FA Cup crumbled as his Arsenal side conceded their first goal since Boxing Day.
The Gunners had gone an impressive 508 minutes without letting one in on a six-game run that had seen them win four and draw two prior to this fixture.
But they were second-best for much of the afternoon against a Southampton side who thoroughly merited their victory and who claimed it courtesy of Gabriel’s own-goal. The Brazilian stuck out a leg to divert former Tottenham right-back Kyle Walker-Peters’ low cross-shot underneath Bernd Leno midway through the first half.
And, despite a marginally improved performance after the break, Arsenal never really carved out the clear-cut chances they needed to get back into the game.
Arteta said: “I’m very disappointed because we wanted to continue in the competition.
“We had a dream to do it again like we did last year, step by step, and it is over.
“I was very disappointed with the way we conceded the goal in an area we know we shouldn’t be doing that and gave the lead to the opponent.
“But at the same time I can’t fault the effort, how they tried, how they improved throughout the game and how we tried to go for the goal.
“I wasn’t happy with the start of the situation for their goal, we know in which areas what we have to do.
“We should not do that because we know you can get in trouble and we paid the price.”
Arsenal were caught dwelling on the ball, but not just once, as Southampton’s ultra-aggressive pressing gave them all sorts of problems in the first half.
Ibrahima Diallo and James Ward-Prowse pulled the strings in midfield, but in front of them Danny Ings, Che Adams, Stuart
Armstrong and Theo Walcott harried and hassled the visitors into making mistakes.
They will now face Wolves in the fifth round after the Midlanders’ victory over Chorley on Friday.
Boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, who picked a strong side, was pleased with Southampton’s first-ever win against Arsenal in the competition.
He said: “In the first half, we were very good after a few problems at the beginning with the pressing, we had to adjust it a little bit, but then it was better after the first 10 minutes.
“Our decision-making wasn’t the best, either, otherwise we could have scored a little bit more.
“But we invested a lot and we played a good game.” Arteta captain Pierre-Em Aubameyang travell Southampton, but retur London yesterday morning “personal issues”, made ch with Willian, Nicolas Pe Eddie Nketiah all starting.
But none of them mana suggest they should start h Tuesday when they are ba Premier League game. Willi
Pepe were anonymous and produced performances that will have Arteta scratching his head about how to get the best out of them.
The Arsenal boss (below) had no update from Friday’s news that Martin Odegaard was close to joining on loan from Real Madrid, but, if he can get the deal done, Arteta will be hoping the Norwegian can provide a creative spark that was missing here.
Take nothing from Southampton, though, who were unlucky not to take the lead when WardProwse hit the bar direct from a corner.
In real time, it even looked like he meant it. Gabriel failed to connect with a Willian free-kick on a turnand-volley in one of the few chances Arsenal created.
Arteta’s side were then caught in possession, leading to Gabriel’s own goal.
There were plenty of positives for Hasenhuttl, having Ings back and Diallo’s performance among them.
“Having Danny back is absolutely important,” he added.
“He was very active with his quality on the ball and showed how important he is for our game.
“And Diallo is definitely convincing me more and more with every game he plays.”