LONDON (AP) — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ended his longest run without a Premier League goal for Arsenal to salvage a 1-1 draw against Southampton, ensuring his team avoided losing five straight top-flight home games for the first time in its 134-year history.
Arsenal finished with 10 men for the second straight game after Gabriel collected his second booking for fouling Theo Walcott, the former Arsenal winger who had opened the scoring for Southampton in the 18th minute against the team he represented between 2006-18.
Aubameyang equalized with a precise curling finish in the 52nd for his first goal since Nov. 1 — a run of six league games — and first in open play since the opening day of the season.
After Gabriel was sent off in the 62nd, Southampton piled on the pressure — coming closest to scoring when Nathan Redmond hit the post — but Arsenal held firm for a point that might relieve some of the pressure on manager Mikel Arteta, given how the game panned out.
Arsenal could even have nicked all three points, with Rob Holding hitting the crossbar in stoppage time.
Arsenal stayed 15th in what remains its worst start to a league campaign since the 1970s.
___
More AP soccer:
