Published 08:32 IST, November 24th 2019
Lacazette's injury-time equaliser helps Arsenal salvage draw against Southampton
Pressure increased on head coach Unai Emery as Arsenal failed to win, or perform against relegation-threatened Southampton on Saturday evening
Boos ringed around the Emirates stadium on Saturday evening when the referee blew his whistle to end the match in a 2-2 draw between Arsenal and Southampton. The Arsenal team was heavily booed off not just because of the draw, but also because of the performance of the team, which has been abject over the last few weeks.
Lacazette to the rescue
Arsenal were only a minutes away from letting Southampton claim their first victory at the North London club for 32 years and hand the relegation-threatened side a boost. Ralph Hasenhüttl's side could have easily won the match and the Austrian rued his side's missed chances in the match, who had 21 attempts on goal against the home side's 12. Speaking to media, he said, "You have to force the positive feeling inside. It is not easy to let it out. You can always think that you can win the game and we didn't but you must be honest...What I was really impressed about was the way we wanted to play today, believing in being on the front foot. After the 70th minute, only we played — we tried to score and we tried to create chances. Every player gave a fantastic performance."
Southampton scored early in the second half, with Danny Ings opening the scoring after Ryan Bertrand took a quick freekick. Alexandre Lacazetter rescued Arsenal ten minutes later. Southampton once again got the lead in the second half through James Ward-Prowse and dominated the proceedings for the rest of the match and were looking to secure a much needed victory, untill Lacazette struck home to salvage a draw which was met with muted celebrations form all parties — the player, the team, the head coach, and most importantly, the fans.
Unai Emery, after the match admitted that he needed to do better. Speaking about the draw he said, "We lost an opportunity to connect with our supporters because they helped us. We want, and we know, that here is the key. Here is the key to feeling comfortable, strong and take confidence. We didn't do that." When he was asked about his job and position at the club being under threat, he said, "The club are supporting me every day. Also, I have a responsibility. I know I can do better, I can take more performances with the players and I'm going to try to do that"
Updated 13:45 IST, November 24th 2019