Arsenal suffered one of their most painful defeats this season and were eliminated from the FA Cup tournament after losing 1:2 as a guest to second division Southampton.
This is the second consecutive huge disappointment for Mikel Arteta's men, who lost the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City just before the international break.
The loss is particularly disappointing, as Arsenal crushed their opponent in the first half and the visitors created more than one situation until the break. However, they were punished for their aristocratic mistakes and the “Saints” took the lead in the score after a goal by Ross Stewart (36’). In the middle of the second half, reserve Viktor Gökeres (68’) managed to restore parity, but instead of the guests making a complete turnaround quickly, they conceded a second goal through Shay Charles (86’), which threw “St. Marys” into wild joy. Thus, “Saints”, who were relegated from the Premier League twice in three years, now finally have reasons to rejoice and are even dreaming of a trophy, although it will be especially difficult for them given the competition that awaits them in the next phase of the competition.
This was the third quarter-final of the day in the FA Cup. The first two matches today offered an exceptional spectacle, starting with the trademark derby between Manchester City and Liverpool in recent years. “Citizens” left no chance for the Merseysiders and won 4:0.
In the second match of the day, world club champion Chelsea did not allow a surprise at “Stamford Bridge” and crushed the last team in League 1, Port Vale, with 7:0. The last participant in the final four will be determined tomorrow, April 5 (Sunday), when at 18:30 Bulgarian time, West Ham welcomes Iliya Gruev's Leeds in London at the Olympic Stadium. Thus, in all likelihood, Southampton will be the only team outside the elite Premier League.
Immediately before the break for the national teams, Southampton took a valuable victory with 2:0 against Oxford United in a Championship match. Despite the positive result and the time in which the players could recover, manager Tonda Eckert made several changes. Today, the first referee's signal on the "green carpet" was heard by Nathan Wood, Cameron Bragg, Kasper Gender, Leo Schenza, Ross Stewart instead of Jack Stevens, Flynn Downs, Cameron Archer, Shay Charles, Kyle Larin, who played in the victory against the "students".
For Mikel Arteta's graduates, this is the first match since the collapse against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. Compared to this match, the "gunners" came out with seven changes, and today they were with Christian Mosquera, Miles Lewis-Skelly, Martin Odegaard, Christian Njorgaard, Max Dauman, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus who started instead of William Saliba, Piero Incapie, Martin Subimendi, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossar, Victor Gjokeres.
In the 3rd minute, a discussion moment arose, after doubts remained that a defender of the “Saints” had played with his hand in the penalty area, but the main referee Samuel Barrott decided to ignore the situation and let the game continue.
In the 6th minute, the home team's goalkeeper Peretz coped with a dangerous cross from Odegaard, and the attack ended with a powerful shot by Dauman, with the goalkeeper again being brilliant.
The pressure of the “Gunners” continued in the following minutes, as the “saints” had recovered very well and did not allow a new danger until the 11th minute, when Jesus intercepted a cross with his head, and Perec made a second significant save. This shot was part of a series of three consecutive corners in favor of the Londoners.
In the next ten minutes, the match went into a single combat mode, as little by little the hosts managed to push out the aggression of the opponent. It was not until the 25th minute that the guests reached a new danger. Then, when crossing from another corner, Odegaard escaped his guard and shot powerfully from inside the penalty area, and Perec threw himself decisively into the lower right corner.
In the 26th minute, Odegaard was again at the epicenter of events, shooting wide of the left post.
After two more corners for the capital's giants, which did not lead to a change in the score, it seemed that the logical thing happened and ten minutes before the end, the guests were punished for their aristocratic omissions. A cross caught the "gunners" unprepared, and Stewart did what was necessary and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was forced to clear the ball from his goal.
After the goal, practically nothing changed and the Londoners tried territorial pressure, from which nothing came, and only in added time did Njorgaard master a pass and try his luck from mid-range. However, the shot went straight into goalkeeper Peretz, who had no problem catching it, and the Saints' lead remained intact for the break.
Just five minutes after the restart, Mikel Arteta's men managed to create a new threat. First, Jesus played around the penalty spot, and shortly after, Dauman intercepted a cross, which was cleared for a corner at the last moment by a defender in a yellow shirt and blue shorts.
In the 57th minute, the situation could have become very difficult for the “Gunners”, after their opponent once again came dangerously close to their goal. “The Saints” They took two consecutive corners, with Leo Schenza narrowly missing the second.
In the 60th minute, Tom Fellows shot over the bar.
In the 62nd minute, Schenza shot from the edge of the penalty area and the ball bounced off the crossbar.
This powerful action by the hosts greatly worried Mikel Arteta, who urgently took measures and made a triple substitution, one of which included the appearance of multi-million summer purchase Viktor Gökeres. The Swede, who played a huge role during the international break in his Sweden qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, has become an important factor in the progress of his club team as well. Just seven minutes after coming on, he perfectly played Havertz's pass and equalized.
Instead of an instant turnaround, the Gunners could soon find themselves with a goal deficit again after Tom Fellows treacherously poured the ball into the penalty area and a Gunners defender crossed in time, knocking in a corner.
Immediately after that, new problems arose for Mikel Arteta, who was forced to replace Jesus and now it remains to be seen whether the manager has lost one of his key players for a long time.
However, a ray of hope appeared in the final ten minutes, when Max Daumann reached a pass that cut through the “Saints” defense and delivered a cunning shot, but once again Peretz was at an exceptional level.
In the 85th minute, Martinelli could also have written his name among the scorers, but he knocked the ball wide of the left post.
This omission proved fatal, as in their next attack, the hosts slapped their opponent resoundingly, who never managed to find themselves. Charles was in the right place at the right time to intercept a neat pass to himself and return the advantage in the score to his team, who came close to the great miracle of the day.
In the 2nd minute of added time, Martinelli squandered a huge opportunity, which largely decided the outcome of the match. He fired a powerful shot into the bottom right corner, but Perec dived quickly enough and kept his goal dry.
In the 4th minute of added time, Calafiori also failed in his attempt to equalize. He shot from mid-range, but his shot was too inaccurate and went over the crossbar.
In the 5th minute of added time, the “saints” they squandered a chance to make their success even more significant, but Kepa Arrizabalaga made one of his few saves of the night and saved Tom Fellows' shot, clearing it for a corner.
The visitors never found a way to score until the end and lost another hope of adding a trophy to their showcase in just the last two weeks. However, they still have a chance to triumph with two more significant awards, if they manage to fight for the Premier League or the Champions League.
SOUTHAMPTON 2:1 ARSENAL
1:0 Ross Stewart (35')
1:1 Viktor Gökeres (68')
2:1 Shay Charles (85')
FA Cup, 1/4-final
STARTING LINE-UPS
Southampton: 41. Daniel Peretz, 14. James Bree, 6. Taylor Harwood-Bellis, 15. Nathan Wood, 3. Ryan Manning, 48. Cameron Bragg, 20. Casper Gender, 18. Tom Fellows, 10. Finn Azaz, 13. Leo Schenza, 11. Ross Stewart
Manager: Tonda Eckert
Arsenal: 13. Kepa Arrizabalaga, 4. Ben White, 3. Christian Mosquera, 6. Gabriel Magalhaes, 49. Miles Lewis-Skelly, 8. Martin Odegaard, 16. Christian Njorgaard, 56. Max Daumann, 29. Kai Havertz, 11. Gabriel Martinelli, 9. Gabriel Jesus
Manager: Mikel Arteta