Arsenal’s title hopes hit despite Saka rescuing draw against Southampton

Conventional wisdom had it that the league title would be decided at the Etihad next Wednesday but Arsenal may have effectively handed it to Manchester City five days ahead of schedule.

This was almost the greatest fightback their stadium has seen, better still than the overhauling of Bournemouth, but despite pulling level late on against a brave, shattered Southampton a draw was not really enough. Shocking defending early on helped Carlos Alcaraz and Theo Walcott, who both finished superbly, put Saints two up before Gabriel Martinelli appeared to begin restoring the natural order.

Duje Caleta-Car scored a smash-and-grab third after the break and, even though Martin Ødegaard curled in late on and Bukayo Saka dramatically equalised, Arsenal counted a heavy cost.

Arteta had been delighted with his side’s training ground response to the disappointment of losing successive two-goal leads, saying they had shown so much hunger he needed to hold them back. The stage was set for one of the rip-roaring starts to which Emirates regulars have been accustomed, but it was certainly not in the script for Southampton to deliver it.

In the event Arsenal were, against the odds, asked to show exactly the same mettle Liverpool and West Ham demonstrated in causing them such angst. Amid a sizable list of recent concessions by their back line, the opener was by some way the most gruesome. Aaron Ramsdale’s distribution usually falls the right side of the risk-versus-reward equation preached by Arteta but this time, with the ball at his feet and under little pressure, he flunked the test. An apparent attempt to pass short for Oleksandr Zinchenko was cut out easily by Alcaraz, who still had plenty to do but executed a slick curling finish from