Gunned Down: Southampton Falls 2-1 On Late Arsenal Penalty
A controversial penalty in stoppage time of the second half propelled Arsenal past Southampton before a capacity crowd at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.
The call followed a non-call involving Saints’ forward Shane Long that left many fans seeing red. Long, who had gotten forward in attack, was tackled down near the Arsenal box and remained down for several seconds as play continued. Instant replay appeared to show Long’s Achilles tendon being tread on by an Arsenal defender directly in front of the assistant linesman, but no flag went up.
On the other end of the pitch, Laurent Koscielny caught a boot to the face but amazingly, play was allowed to continue; typically, referees are instructed to halt play for injury treatment in the case of suspected head injuries.
It was during this period of play that a scuffle for the ball between Southampton captain Jose Fonte and Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud was judged against Fonte, to the shock and disbelief of both men. With time running down, Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla converted from the spot and sealed what’s sure to be the most talked-about win of the week for the Gunners.
It is an especially bitter taste for Claude Puel’s men, who put in their best performance of the season in one of the toughest environments in England. In his postgame conference, the 55 year old manager pulled no punches on his opinions.
“It’s a pity to lose the game in these conditions,” Puel told club media. “It was a very good performance from us, but it’s a shame and it’s very hard to lose this game.”
“A draw would have been the right result here, not a loss.”
Southampton got out to an early start, going 1-0 up in the 17th minute on a Dusan Tadic free kick. Tadic slammed it over the wall at Petr Cech, whose fingertips parried it off the bar and into the back of the net.
Officially recorded as a Cech own-goal, it would have been Tadic’s first goal of the season.
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The lead would not last long, though, as a ball through traffic fell to Laurent Koscielny who propelled an acrobatic overhead kick past a diving Fraser Forster to equalise in the 29th minute.
The Gunners’ goal seemed to take the wind out of Southampton’s sails for the remainder of the half. Arsenal bossed possession but didn’t seriously threaten through the half-time whistle, when the teams headed in on level footing.
The second half started with Shane Long coming on for Jay Rodriguez, who got his first start of the year and put in an effective shift. Arsenal again took control of the early run of play, but Southampton’s defence was in rare form keeping the likes of Mesut Ozil and company quiet.
The final half-hour of play saw a flurry of all-out attacking play from both sides, including three great chances for Shane Long that the Irishman couldn’t convert on. Until the penalty, it was a game that could have gone either way and seemed likely to end on level pegging.
For Southampton, it is an especially bitter pill to swallow. The Saints currently sit on a paltry two points, without a win, in 18th position. With 19th-ranked Sunderland still to play, they could well drop to second-bottom.
With a grueling run of Europa League and Premiership games upcoming—six further games in the next 22 days—Southampton’s march has become a sheer-cliff climb.
Southampton’s next League opponent is Swansea City, whom they play at St. Mary’s next Sunday. Swans have yet to play this week but sit at 16th on 3 points.
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