If Mikel Arteta was not already worried about his side’s dramatic dip in form, now he will surely be be fretting about the prospect of Arsenal undoing all of their hard work as their pursuit of returning to the Champions League was dented by a damaging defeat at Southampton. Arteta had conceded that psychologically his team may have taken a hit in recent weeks and any hopes of regrouping were eroded as they succumbed to a fourth defeat in five Premier League matches, with the rejuvenated Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster keeping Arsenal at bay.
The only redeeming aspect about another difficult afternoon is that one of their prime rivals for a top-four berth, Tottenham, also failed to take victory. For Southampton, this was something of a restorative mission, the kind of afternoon that cleansed the palette after five defeats in their previous six, including that Chelsea demolition.
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