Arsenal vs Southampton result: Five things we learned as Saints miss chance to go top at 10-man Gunners

Arsenal 1-1 Southampton: Walcott scored against his former side before Aubameyang’s equaliser

Kyle Walker-Peters and Theo Walcott vie with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Arsenal came from behind but could only draw 1-1 against Southampton in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

An open first half saw plenty of space to pass into in both halves of the pitch and Saints made great use of that to send Theo Walcott clear, with the former Gunner clipping a cool finish over Bernd Leno and into the net for the opener.

It was far too easy for the away team in the first half and they came out far quicker and more aggressive after the break, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalising six minutes after the restart. But, just as in their last game, once the Gunners were starting to get on top they let themselves down with a lack of discipline as Gabriel Magalhaes was shown a second yellow and subsequent red card.

READ MORE: Premier League fixtures and table - all matches by date and kick-off time

Saints pushed on for the win late on, but only the woodwork was struck by both Nathan Redmond at one end and Rob Holding at the other.

Here are five things we learned from the game at the Emirates Stadium.

Welcome back Walcott

He couldn’t get in the team at Everton, but since returning to Southampton Theo Walcott has been largely excellent and certainly effective.

A goal here against his former side was met with an atypically enthusiastic celebration, summing up his delight, no doubt, at being both back in a team where his talents are made the most of and also simply being back in any team’s regular XI.

He’s never been a winger, but often been stuck there. He rarely got a regular run as a striker, and never really shone there.

In Ralph Hasenhuttl’s narrow 4-4-2, the role suits him: starting in and defending the channel, but free to roam, to drive infield, to pick up the ball between the lines and to run in behind to fill the void left by the tremendous movement of Saints’ front two.

Contrast in game plans

What exactly was the plan for Arsenal after kick-off? Ignore the fact they started better and scored after the restart - there was 45 minutes first of aimless passing (often out of play), passive attempts to stop Saints moving the ball through the middle and absolutely no goal threat at all.

Mikel Arteta switched his team back to a 3-4-3 for this game, but the starting formation being altered matters little when the actual build-up play remains as directionless and lethargic as Arsenal’s has been of late.

On the flip side, Saints’ players know exactly what their job is, know precisely the passing triangles and shapes they can create with each other to gradually move their way upfield and out of pressure, and then how to get runners into the box.

Arteta has had almost a year now and his team still appear to have no clear identity, no definitive method of creating regular chances and, ultimately, no consistency in results.

From open play, finally

Arsenal’s scoring woes looked like continuing 45 minutes into the game; at half-time they were at well over 750 minutes of league action with just two goals scored in that time.

Of that pair, one was a penalty and one was the end result off a set-piece - from open play, across eight and a half games, there was nothing.

That came to a welcome end on 52 minutes, as Aubameyang put the finishing touch on a sweeping run and passing move down the left flank, the type of finish he has been long-associated with in his career but which has been strangely absent for most of the months of this season.

It was an opportunistic finish after a superb run by Bukayo Saka and a neat, one-touch lay-off from Eddie Nketiah - the type of football, in short, Gunners fans would expect to see far more often.

Indiscipline or idiocy?

It wasn’t anywhere near as ridiculous as Granit Xhaka’s weekend red card, of course.

But Gabriel’s poor marking and further poor decision-making compounded his initial error of judgement, with a pull-down of Walcott who was racing away leading to his second yellow card and Arsenal’s second sending-off in a matter of days.

Arteta has his own issues to sort tactically, but there’s not too much he can do about his players making poor calls once out on the pitch.

There has to be an acceptance that they must be more careful, diligent and team-first in their thinking, particularly at present when the form of the team isn’t great and confidence is so low as a result. Now the key part of the defence will be missing for the difficult trip to Everton.

Table-top challengers…almost

For a spell this evening, Southampton were top of the Premier League in the live standings.

Leicester’s defeat to Everton and the fact Liverpool and Tottenham meet later on meant Saints could have crept into first with a win; as it is they stay fourth, but are just one point off the top.

Nobody has considered them real title challengers, and the team and manager likely won’t do so either at this point.

But a European spot? In a season of such struggle, injuries and crazy schedules, it’s absolutely within reach for a team which is consistent, well-organised, has plenty of attacking options and a clear style of play to fall back on.

They’re everything Arsenal aren’t right now, including a top-four team in the league.