Southampton hand Arsenal latest alarming loss after Jan Bednarek winner

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.

Forster was the only Southampton player to come out of their 6-0 battering at home to Chelsea with any credit and the goalkeeper, who was recalled to the England squad after a five-year hiatus last month, continued where he left off here, making a smart save low down to his right to repel an early curling shot by Gabriel Martinelli. Forster brilliantly denied the substitute Emile Smith Rowe in the second half and arguably the biggest moment arrived on 17 minutes when he shuffled across goal to somehow save Bukayo Saka’s attempt to convert Martinelli’s low cross. Eddie Nketiah, who led the line in the absence of the unwell Alexandre Lacazette, intercepted a loose pass by Yan Valery and fed Martinelli to his right, who delivered a cross from the right towards the back post. Saka should have scored but scooped his shot high, giving Forster the