Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admitted it as “very strange” that his team could not deal with Southampton’s directness following their shock exit from the FA Cup.
The Gunners struggled to break down the Championship side at St. Mary’s Stadium after going behind to Ross Stewart’s first-half opener.
Arteta brought Viktor Gyokeres on to amend that, which he did in the 68th minute when he tapped in from close range to equalise.
But it was the Saints who came out on top after Shea Charles finished off a sweeping team move with a tidy finish late on, booking their place in the semi-finals of the cup.
“We have to congratulate Southampton, they are going to Wembley and we are not,” Arteta told BBC Sport after the final whistle.
“The team had some very good moments. We didn’t capitalise on those moments, and the way we conceded the goals is not at the level we have shown.
“That is the reason we have lost the game.”
Arsenal treble dream over after ‘very strange’ Southampton defeat
When asked if Southampton’s direct approach caught Arsenal by surprise, he simply responded with “no”, but struggled to find an explanation for his side’s subpar performance.
“We didn’t manage the long balls well enough, which is something very strange,” he said.
“In the first half, we just let the ball through us and they were one against one.
“The way we concede the second goal was very similar.
“Very difficult to explain. But it is all credit to them.”
Worryingly for the north London outfit, Gabriel Magalhães was replaced by William Saliba in the second half after going down off the ball clutching his knee.
“He couldn’t continue, so we are going to have to assess him and see if he gets better soon,” Arteta explained.
After 11 of his senior players withdrew from national team duty over the international break, Arteta had to field a rotated lineup. Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard, Mikel Merino, Eberechi Eze and Piero Hincapie were left out of the matchday squad due to injury.
“I hope that we can recover some of the players that we are missing. As quick as we do that, the stronger we are going to be.”
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