Southampton produced an inspiring display on Saturday to knock Arsenal out of the FA Cup.
Arsenal, who are top of the Premier League again, suffered another cruel defeat in their bid to recover from their League Cup final defeat to Manchester City a fortnight ago, when they had lost 2-0 to City, and reach the FA cup semi-final.
Despite all the talk that three trophies were still available, especially with a game against a Championship side, the Mikel Arteta side failed as goals from Ross Stewart in the 35th minute and Shea Charles in the 85th minute after Viktor Gyokeres had equalised consigned them to a morale-deficit defeat ahead of their Champions League game against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.
After the match, Arteta explained, “The result and especially the way we conceded the two goals. We had so much dominance in and around the box.
“We conceded the first goal in a very unusual way for us, the second one from direct play as well. We had two massive chances and needed to capitalize on that. If you make defending errors we made today, it’s very difficult to be in the semi-final.”
He said, “No,” when asked if Southampton surprised Arsenal, adding, “They are a very good side on a very good run and you have to congratulate them.”
On the weather conditions, he explained, “You have to adapt to the wind, the injuries. You have to adapt to difficult situations in the season. Now we have to show what we are made of.”
Also speaking after the match, Southampton’s Leo Scienza said, “Amazing. There are no words to describe how much we fought today. It was not luck; we fought so hard and we deserved it. We played well, very mature.
“Let’s just enjoy the night and enjoy the moment. Tomorrow we have to switch on again because the calendar is crazy. We have a big, big focus this season to be at Wembley more than once. So let’s just enjoy today.
“It’s difficult to say it went exactly how we wanted it, but certainly spells in the game went the way we wanted. They are the best team in England and one of the best teams in the world right now, so it’s difficult to stop the quality they have, but we did very well.
“We studied a lot. We knew when to suffer. My teammates were very cold in front of the goal to score, and we deserved to win and are very happy.
“In the first half I tried to dribble the keeper; I didn’t see the defender, he just went behind me and woosh, I didn’t see where he came from. I relaxed.
“It should’ve been a goal; there is no excuse. In the second half I was a bit unlucky.
“Sometimes the ball hits the post and goes down for a goal. But football is like this. The most important action is the next one, so thanks to my teammates because they scored the goals today. It’s an amazing feeling,” he said.
