WHAT HAPPENED
Alex Lacazette scored an equaliser deep into stoppage time as we were held to a draw by Southampton at Emirates Stadium.
Fresh from the international break and looking to reignite our Premier League campaign, the game got off to the worst possible start as the Saints took the lead.
The way we conceded would have disappointed Unai Emery, as we switched off and were caught out by a quickly taken free kick, with Danny Ings racing clear to slot home.
We were struggling for fluency and up against a well-organised Saints team, chances were few and far between but with 18 minutes gone Lacazette lifted the mood with a smartly-taken equaliser from close range.
But there was to be no further breakthrough before half-time, so Unai Emery brought on Nicolas Pepe and switched to four at the back after the restart.
Almost immediately Bernd Leno was called into action to make a smart save to prevent a Lucas Torreira own goal, while at the other end Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s close-range effort was deflected inches wide.
There was more urgency to our play now, with Pepe played in by Lacazette but unable to find the well-placed Ozil, before Leno needed to be at full stretch to push Nathan Redmond’s shot over the bar.
Pepe soon hit the bar from inside the box, before the visitors really should have retaken the lead after preying on a Sokratis mistake in the box, but Soares’ pass evaded Obafemi.
But the visitors were soon given another chance after Kieran Tierney was adjudged to have taken down Ings in the box, and while Ward-Prowse’s penalty was saved by Leno, the Southampton midfielder converted the rebound.
Gabriel Martinelli and Joe Willock were thrown on for the closing stages, with the latter almost immediately testing Alex McCarthy with a header.
Willock was in the thick of it, and soon made a brilliant block on the line to deny Moussa Djenepo as the clock ticked down.
But we finally got an equaliser deep into stoppage time as Lacazette fired home after good work by Martinelli, but there was to be no further drama.
HOW IT HAPPENED
See how the match unfolded with our play-by-play commentary.
WHAT IT MEANS
WHAT’S NEXT
We return to Europa League action on Thursday for our penultimate match in the group stage when Frankfurt visit Emirates Stadium.
We won the reverse fixture 3-0 in Germany back in September, with Joe Willock, Bukaya Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the scoresheet.
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