As the match official blew the whistle to signal the end of the match, The camera fell on Mesut Ozil as he shook his head with discontent. He knew as much as everyone that their title challenge just took a major dent.
Football is a game of two halves as they say but the 0-0 scoreline may not be a fair reflection of the game's proceedings.
For much of the first half both teams went toe-to-toe with Arsenal slightly edging the Saints with Mesut Ozil coming the closest in the half for Arsenal if not for some awesome goalkeeping by Forster.
The second half started with Arsenal coming out guns blazing with Mesut and Sanchez combining constantly to trouble the saints defence but couldn't find a way through.
The saints employed a physical approach to the match. With their holding midfielders and defenders muscling their opponents off the ball. And Victor Wanyama showed once again why he's a very sort after player with a dominating performance in midfield by not allowing Ozil and co to have too much time on the ball.
The midfield pairing of Ramsey and Flamini would have been frowned upon due to the return to fitness of Coquelin but it was Ramsey who had an off day. He's not Santi Carzola, its really that simple. Flamini is the destroyer while Ramsey is suppose to be the initiator which he wasn't today. He halted many counter attacks with his sideways passing and was playing it safe instead of being adventurous like he usually is.
Theo Walcott came on in the 70th minute to replace Joel Campbell and he had a guilt edged chance to put Arsenal ahead but he rather side-footed a clear cut chance to the foot of Forster and hit the rebound on target but was an easy save for Forster. Ozil and Sanchez turned up the heat as the game went on as they combined brilliantly to open up the Saints defence and were successful a couple of times but couldn't find a way through. Forster made more fine saves in second half, preventing a glancing header from Sanchez from going in and also another from Giroud.
Koscielny had a clear chance to win it for the gunners late on but surprisingly hit his header over the bar from a few yards out.
Gabriel started alongside Koscielny and it can't be taken as a perfect performance due to some defensive blunders that could have tilted the game to the Saints way. He recklessly tackled Mane in the penalty box but Mane stayed up and no penalty was given, he also had a misplaced pass that fell to Mane but his error was corrected by Confident defending from Koscielny and the lack of quality of his attempt that fell comfortably for Cech.
Overall it was a comfortable day for Petr Cech, extending the clean sheet record but Gooner fans must feel like they should have gotten the three points.
At the moment, the result leaves Arsenal Five points behind leaders Leicester and in Fourth position. The season is far from over and with Leicester visiting the Etihad and Emirates later in quick succesion, who knows how much things could change by then.
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