No ‘Hail Mary’s could have saved Arsenal at St.Mary this afternoon as sturdy Southampton tamed the Gunners with a 1-0 win. The hosts ended a run of five league games without a victory while the north Londoners recorded a third defeat in a row as part of the English top tier.In the ‘lunchtime’ kick-off, Tottenham Hotspur succumbed to a last-minute defeat to Brighton and it was great news for their arch-rivals, massive motivation for Arsenal but the Gunners failed to take advantage.Kane, Son and Kulusevski failed, but not Trossard: Brighton win in LondonWith Spurs’ loss in mind, the Gunners opened up the match at St.Mary’s – in the 9th minute, Arsenal almost found an opening when Gabriel Martinelli sent a shot from the edge of the area but it was comfortably collected by Fraser Forster.The pressure on the home squad was continuously rising – Arsenal’s top goalscorer Bukayo Saka tried his luck inside the penalty area soon after but Forster’s strong hands were there to deny the English youngster. It became apparent the 34-year-old shot-stopper was potentially in for a long afternoon – Forster was called into action once again this time to thwart Cédric Soares’ attempt.CR7’s hat-trick to fight off the bottom dwellers, his first free kick goal after 345 attemptsIt was evident that the Saints were still trying to re-group following their 6-0 mauling from Chelsea last time out but out of nowhere – Southampton managed to shock the visitors.As the Londoners were searching for an opening goal, on the stroke of halftime – Mohamed Elyounoussi found Jan Bednarek, who made no mistake in front of goal to give the Saints an unexpected lead.In the second half, Arsenal needed to muster up something special to keep their Champions League hopes alive. Wasteful chances seemed to be the theme of Arsenal’s afternoon – Soares tried once more but his shot sent the ball high over the bar, Martinelli and Martin Ødegaard flashed efforts high into the stands and Saka thrashed another significant effort inaccurately wide.In the 73rd minute, substitute Emile Smith Rowe thought he leveled the score but the ever-present Forster pulled off another excellent save to keep the Saints in front. As the clock agonizingly ticked down, a late Granit Xhaka deflected shot turned out to be the Gunners last real opportunity to pull level.For the first time since December 2021, Arsenal recorded back-to-back away league defeats which pushes them away from their ‘top four’ dream.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – ROUND 33SaturdayTottenham – Brighton 0-1 (0-0)/Trossard 90+1/Man.Utd. – Norwich 3-2 (2-1)/Ronaldo 7, 32, 76 – Dowell 45+1, Pukki 52/Southampton – Arsenal 1-0 (1-0)/Bednarek 44/Watford – Brentford 1-2 (0-1)/Dennis 54 – Norgaard 15, Jannson 90+6/Sunday16.15: (2.39) Newcastle (3.35) Leicester (3.40)16.15: (1.82) West Ham (3.70) Burnley (5.40)***odds are subject to change
