Before the game there wasn't a Saints fan in the stadium that would not have been happy with a point from this game, yet walking out of the ground it felt like a crushing defeat, but the truth is it was a big step forward.

This was down to be the game that saw Saints collapse and be cast adrift at the bottom, we had Arsenal a team who just a fortnight ago looked odds on certainties for the title taking on rock bottom Southampton , there could be only one result.

The Arsenal fans knew that and so did Saints fans, but within a minute of the kick off suddenly you sensed something different might happen as Charly Alcatraz sent Saints into an early lead.

That was never going to last was it, but then on 14 minutes Theo Walcott slotted home to give the visitors a two goal lead, could we dare to dream.

The answer was no when the arrears were reduced on 20 minutes, Arsenal fans sat back to wait for the inevitable onslaught, only it never happened, the home side had much of the ball, but Saints worked hard and made sure that actual chances on target were few and far between, despite good possession and plenty of efforts on goal.

Half time arrived and the whole ground knew that the next 45 minutes would all go the Arsenal's plan, only no one told Caleta-Car who coming on just before the break for Jan Bednarek, popped up at the far post on 66 minutes to head Saints ahead.

Suddenly the Saints supporters were starting to believe, the Arsenal fans were also starting to believe as well, that their side might actually lose this game.

Ruben Selles brought on fresh legs, although the final substitution seemed strange, surely Romeo Lavia, one of our best players could have done another 4 minutes.

It was also strange why he had taken off our best player in the first half Charly Alacatraz and brought on a defender.

As the game headed for the 88th Minute Saints looked like they might just hold out, but sadly it was not to be, two goals in the space of two minutes meant that Saints had to hold on for 8 minutes of injury time.

At the final minute if the situation had been reversed and we had come back to score two and draw in the final minutes this would have been like a cup final win, but it wasn't the mood was subdued leaving the stadium, yes a point would have been seen as brilliant before the match, but after it seemed like two dropped and more to the point yet another chance to pull up the table lost.

This is becoming deja vu, 2022/2023 is starting to play out like it did 18 years ago in 2004/05, the similarities are mounting, back then we had three managers in the season, we also gave away too many leads and we also blew the lead at Highbury that season as well in the final minute.

But despite the feeling of disappointment, this game showed that we have the stomach for the fight, we are outsiders to stay up, but we showed that we could take on the best side in the Premier League going into this game, on their own turf and put them to the sword.

This bodes well for the final run in, we can take on Bournemouth knowing that we can give them a fight, this team is not as bad as some would make out, but it does lack leadership and that is perhaps what cost us in the final minutes, we were battling like dervishes, but truth is there was no one standing cool and collected in the back four and directing operations, if there had of been then perhaps we might have held out.

So this might have felt like a defeat and we can all give our own opinions of why we threw away a two goal lead so late on, but there were more plus points than minus.

Firstly we scored 3 goals for only the second time this season in the Premier League, but this was the second time in five games, so we have the firepower.

Secondly we took a point that nobody and i mean nobody expected.

Thirdly the players stepped up to the mark, this was a team performance where everyone put in a shift.

Fourthly we had fight, we had spirit and we never gave up, yes it was devastating that we gave those two goals away, but if we had given in at that point then it night well have been worse in those 8 minutes of injury time.

Fifthly the fans stayed with the team, yes it was easier than most games this season given we literally lead for the full 90 minutes of normal time, but we stayed with them and if that is the case in the run in then who knows.

So we go into the crucial game with Bournemouth with confidence that we didn't expect to have, perhaps the spirit that the team appears to have will carry us through, it is time to forget about what has gone on before, just concentrate on the things that we can change and that is the final 6 games of the season.

Photo: Action Images

Colburn added 10:33 - Apr 23 It's fair to say the game changed, as did the effectiveness of Odegaard, once Lavia left the pitch. Diallo was slow to react to Odegaard and the inevitable ensued, however, Lavia was spent having stifled their midfield. I understand the half time change with Alcaraz (what a player) being on a yellow and our full backs the same. A red card and we'd have got nothing out of the game.. What I didn't understand was why the ineffective Armstrong started and he and Elyonoussi were poor second half and should have been replaced sooner. We carried more of a threat and had more energy with Sulemana, he should have come on earlier. Fair play to Walcott, he loses the ball a lot but keeps going and made a great run and finish for the second. I've knocked his inclusion but when he has space on the counter, he does a good job. Desperately disappointed to have conceded two goals so late as the 3 points would have changed the complexion of the run in completely.. Indeed reminiscent of the last time we dropped out of the PL. If only we had some experience on the coaching staff to get us over the line in these sorts of games..

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goalie66 added 10:36 - Apr 23 Organisation at the back can come from a confident and able goalkeeper who handles and positions himself correctly. Bazuma is not that keeper. It has been criminal that he has played all the premier league games when clearly he is not ready yet.
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HythePeer added 10:38 - Apr 23 You have a plan, it works, the other team is on the ropes. So at half time you take off the best player and change tactics 🤷🏻‍♂️
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St_Guido added 10:39 - Apr 23 How many times is Bazunu gonna palm a save straight to an opposition player? Must be 3 games in a row & its costing us.
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mattlegod added 10:48 - Apr 23 Why on earth can't the team show that level of desire and passion every week? Even JWP said they don't seem to raise their game enough when playing teams around us. Adam Armstrong might as well have not been on the pitch, I cannot think of anything productive that he did and if he had come off earlier for Suli I may well have taken the pressure off a little. On the flip side, I absolutely love the passion of Lyanco and really hope we keep hold of Alcaraz, he is quite a star of the future.

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mattlegod added 10:50 - Apr 23 Mean to add.. the Diallo substitution was the killer, as soon as I saw he was coming on my anxiety levels rose, I'm afraid that for me he is note good enough and struggles to keep up with the game
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WestSussexSaint added 11:19 - Apr 23 If, and likely, when our relegation is confirmed it won’t be the dropped two points of this match that will be the defining moment. There have been far too many insipid performances against teams with far less quality than Arsenal this season and that is the reason we are bottom of the table. However the performance during this match does indeed give hope. It’s important that the players and coaches use this in the final games of the season to show fight and desire. It will stand us in good stead for next season regardless of which division we end up playing in.

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A1079 added 11:30 - Apr 23 Friday night was amazing though ultimately felt crushing though many of us could see it coming when the changes were made. If you base our team performance on Friday night I agree it looks like we have the stomach for the fight. But, I would counter that Nick in that against Palace, Leeds, Villa, Forest and Wolves to name a few, it did not look like we had the stomach for the fight - anything but and had we shown what we showed against Arsenal in those games we would have had more points on the board. I am still bemused as to why our players seem to turn up against certain sides and less so against those we need to?

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underweststand added 11:34 - Apr 23 What did we really expect?. Scoring three goals from 8 shots with only 26% possession playing away against the league leaders and holding the lead for 88 minutes.....and then holding on for another 10 minutes. Some might call that above and beyond a duty call... A lot of Prem. sides haven't got anywhere near that result, but they will still survive in the league this season. Shame we couldn't play like that when playing inferior opposition.

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cocklebreath added 12:29 - Apr 23 No excuse for players to not put in that much effort every game, annoys me even more that they can do it but for some reason don’t every week
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IanRC added 12:42 - Apr 23 Selles cost us the game. As Colburn and others said, Alcaraz substitution was defendable if controversial, Lavia substitution was unforgivable. Even with his tiredness at that stage he would have done enough. Must hold onto him next season and the superb Alcaraz even if Chelsea and the like are sniffing around. See the officials did nothing to help our cause, foul on Alcaraz in their D not looked at, neither was the blatant push on Sulemana in extra time so as to allow Arsenal to break quickly. As for the time keeping - don’t think Bednarak treatment took 7 minutes (why was Martinelli not at least booked for an incredibly dangerous back) and where the F*ck did 8 minutes come from for the second half. Not content with that the referee played more than 2 minutes more. Unbelievable. Been a long time sceptic about Walcott but have to agree he is working really hard and took his chance well (at last) but what a ball from Alcaraz. El Yonousi worked hard in the first half but as ever had no end product and was at fault for the Martinelli goal, leaving him unmarked. Thought Walker-Peters and Perraud were going to have a nightmare and Perraud too was at fault for their first but fortunately both bucked up against quality wingers as the game went on. Disagree with Walcott, City will put Arsenal to the sword on the run in.

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saintmark1976 added 13:08 - Apr 23 If Forster ( or any other half decent keeper) was in goal we would have won on Friday. Bazunu was at fault for all three goals. First goal. He attempted to cover his near post far too early and was then completely out of position when the ball was crossed away from his goal line resulting in him being unable to get anywhere near the shot that followed. Second goal. A complete replica of the second Palace goal that he conceded the previous Saturday.Arsenal player shot from a mile outside the big box placing the ball into the exact same place in his goal. Bazunu was not unsighted but once again was unable to save. Third goal. Another replica, this time of the Palace first goal, palming the ball out straight to an Arsenal player although on this occasion along the ground. Ultimately fault lies not with Bazunu who is just doing the best he can,but with the club hierarchy. Who on earth amongst them thought that it was a good idea to imagine that a kid who last season played for Portsmouth could overnight become a Premiership goalkeeper? Yet another example of the many ridiculous decisions they have made all season long which ultimately look like depriving us of our Premiership status.

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Saintaxidriver added 13:11 - Apr 23 A good point but could have been more if right decisions made by management. If you take off a player every time he's booked you'd end up with a strange lineup. Thought Walcott and Alcaraz worked well on the break and that could have continued. Lavia should have stayed on and bringing on Big Paul was a mistake as someone like Dnepro would have done a better job of harrying and more threat on the break. Ref was poor and inconsistent and why he ignored push on Kamaldene at end I'll never know. We were a bit unlucky with the the 2 quick goals as the ball fell well for them but as usual for most og the game our defensive marking was poor and the way we stand off them when they had the ball wide gave them too much time to cross or play the ball into the box. Don't feel anything will change against Ballmouth and we will revert to being rubbish tho hope they prove me wrong and we have turned a corner. Suspect not tho!

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Block8 added 13:14 - Apr 23 Not much to add to most of the posts, Colburn summed it up the best IMHO. However one thing that pleased me was a change in tactics away from the dreaded 4-2-2-2. And although we have been desperate for a striker, it showed when Lavia came off and when he was injured for a spell, just how short we are of defensive midfield cover. Anyone that has followed JWP's career know he is better further forward, so in a sense we have wasted two positions. On a plus kudos to Bednarek for his desire to rejoin the game and although may have been missed in the stadium his rushing to the byline to offer advice to the CB's was good to see!

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zonehead added 13:29 - Apr 23 I agree with taxi drivers comments, the blame also lies with whoever is the goalie coach, McCarthy had the same fault ( apart from his near post phobia) of pushing the ball out rather than away, basics!!
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wibbersda added 14:11 - Apr 23 Alcaraz was on yellow, but it was a clever move to go to a back 5. Arsenal would have not anticipated or planned for this at halftime. If we had won, then this would have been classed as a Selle's Masterstroke.
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Ifonly added 14:55 - Apr 23 There has been so much negative to say about Saints this season I want to just highlight one real positive - Theo's goal. Unlike the flashy stuff that wins goal of the month, this was real football - so good it just looks simple. When we won the ball in midfield Moi moved it forward straight away to Alcaraz who slipped a simple but perfect pass to Theo who made a simple but perfect finish. We only had the space to do this because we moved the ball forward quickly. Why we don't do that more often is a mystery to me but we showed we can do it. Not a flashy goal but a really good one. Good football is often just about doing simple things well.

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Farlow added 16:03 - Apr 23 The manager is not up to it all his subs were tatally wrong,why was Armstrong even on the pitch,i,m worried he,s taking your advice Nick.Macarthy would not have let in half of tne goals Bazooka has.
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AmericanSaint added 16:36 - Apr 23 I agree with you Nick that any Saints fan would have taken a point before the game. My only issue with the subs was Big Paul. Stuwey was on the bench and would have been a better sub for midfield and have Sulemana as the forward/outlet with his speed. Also, anyone on here blaming our goalie for those goals has never played goalie in their life. Their 1st goal was unstoppable unless we are lucky. Their second was a world class goal taken by a world class player (with some poor marking). Their third - when a ball is struck with venom from only 10-15 yards away and low, that Bazuna even got a hand on it is impressive and that is was palmed back to the center is just back luck. If you think he should push it wide, with that much power on the shot, he would have pushed it to the back post and in, plain and simple. Their last two goals came down to us being tired and not marking well. So, Bournemouth will be out litmus test. We win and we might have a chance to survive. We tie or lose, then its over and start looking to next season.

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YosemiteSaint added 17:48 - Apr 23 Saints are built to play football, not to retreat into a shell, but with also-rans or diamonds in the rough. So we give the top six—who are also built to play football—a good game much of the time. It's the _bottom_ thirteen, which are built not to lose (very different from being built to play football) we can't match up with: They go into their respective shells, wait us out, and we always oblige. No Arsenal, ManU, Chelsea, etc. supporter would put up with such negative football, so their teams don't play it. They could, and get easy wins against us, but they don't. For everyone else it gets results. Which is why we'll lose or draw all of our remaining matches, with only the match against Liverpool producing some attractive football that'll only end in tears, too.

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ItchenNorth added 18:08 - Apr 23 Really good performance and a decent point. Yes from 1-3 you might expect to see out most games, but this was against the league leaders, fighting hard to win the Premier League, in their own backyard. We did well to hold on in the last 10mins. Alcaraz and Lavia we're again standout and the move, pass and finish by Theo for the second was fantastic. I would have kept Alcaraz on till perhaps the hour mark, but I understand why he came off; we'll need him for every game in the run in. Those endlessly critsising Bazunu need to give their head a wobble. He's made the very few unforced errors (but what keeper doesn't have a error in them, check Ramsdale in this game, Ederson vs Forest yesterday or De Gea midweek vs Saville! !). We are bottom of the league, therefore logic says your keeper is going to be far more involved in each game than you would want. The issues are in front of him, but regardless neither Forster or McCarthy could be claimed to be flawless. Give the kid his dues, he's making saves left right and center for this team and not every save will be clean given the pressure he faces. I fully expected Saints to play well and to give Arsenal a run for their money, as we have consistently played well against the top sides; as they come at you. Our major problems have been against teams that sit back; those around us, because we can't break them down. Hopefully, the atmosphere on Thursday vs Bournemouth will play into our hands, but we must stay with the team even if we go 1 down. COYR,

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JoeEgg added 20:50 - Apr 23 "This bodes well for the final run in, we can take on Bournemouth knowing that we can give them a fight," Yes Nick we've been here before. One great performance then along comes a side we should defeat and we collapse into mediocrity. To see our side play so effectively at the Emirates and to be able to admire the likes of Alcaraz and Lavia against top class opposition, not to mention the overall spirit of the team, just makes me more and more angry that we have not made so much more of the talent at our disposal. To make things worse most of the players we are currently admiring will be gone in the summer. Barring a miracle I can only conclude what a wasted opportunity to put together a side that sh ould have competed with the very best, and kept us in the Premier League.

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stmichael added 21:01 - Apr 23 Being honest and realistic a draw before the game would NOT have been an acceptable result. Due to the state we have got ourselves in we now have to win games we are not expected too. We nearly did but we didn’t. Draws are simply not enough. Same next Sunday too. That said I was proud to be a Saints fan Friday. An Arsenal friend of mine messaged me Friday and said your team owe you an explanation. If you’d fought like that ALL season you wouldn’t be bottoms of the league. EXACTLY 🤷‍♂️

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saintmark1976 added 21:03 - Apr 23 ItchenNorth, if you read my post again you will see that I am very fair to Bazunu pointing out that he is doing the best he can and that ultimately fault lies not with him but with the hierarchy at S F C. I stand by my suggestion that who in their right mind at S F C thought a very young and inexperienced keeper who played for a not very successful Portsmouth last season, would suddenly almost overnight become even a half decent keeper in The Premiership? Giving Bazunu the season long number one keeper spot is one decision amongst many made by the club hierarchy that may very well have costs us our Premiership status. Granted, it may be minor compared to not sacking Ralph in the summer and then appointing Jones as manager but it certainly hasn’t helped has it?

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ItchenNorth added 22:39 - Apr 23 Hi SaintMark1976 But you say Bazunu was at fault for all 3 goals! There's no way their 1st or 2nd can land at the door of Bazunu's fault. Their 1st; all our defenders were facing the goal following the ball and Martinelli cleverly dropped off them and created his space in the box. Their second goal was a quality strike and if anyone is at fault it's again, players not picking up the striker cutting inside. Their 3rd, I can completely see peoples thoughts on this parry (and I'm not far behind thinking the same), but he's making saves. It's far too easy to always blame the keeper. The striker is 10-15 yards in front of Bazunu. He has to get down quickly and stop it, which he does. IMO Bazunu is better than McCarthy (who always got beat at his near post), Forster (who never came for a cross) and Gunn (lacked confidence). No one's blameless, but at fault for all three goals is not correct at all.

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