Lianne Sanderson has questioned Mikel Arteta after substituting Oleksandr Zinchenko as Arsenal drew 3-3 with Southampton. She felt Rob Holding should have made way.
Arsenal came back to rescue one point at Emirates Stadium on Friday night. Last-gasp goals from Martin Odegaard (88’) and Bukayo Saka (90’) denied Southampton a crucial win in the fight to avoid relegation. The Saints had entered their clash at the bottom of the standings.
But a wayward pass from Aaron Ramsdale set Carlos Alcaraz up to break the deadlock after just 28 seconds. Theo Walcott (14’) would swiftly double the south coast team’s advantage. While Duje Caleta-Car (66’) rebuilt their two-goal lead after Gabriel Martinelli (20’) replied.
Arteta recalled Zinchenko to the Arsenal XI against Southampton
Despite Arsenal trailing Southampton from the very start, manager Arteta did not make his first substitution until the 57th minute. Leandro Trossard came on for Fabio Vieira, who had struggled with the pace of the fixture. While Eddie Nketiah replaced Zinchenko in the 72nd.
Arteta had recalled Zinchenko to Arsenal’s starting line-up for the visit of Southampton. He was without the Ukraine left-back at West Ham United last Sunday owing to a groin injury. But the Gunners’ £32m arrival from Manchester City in July had recovered in time to start.
Zinchenko tried to lead Arsenal’s comeback against Southampton and immediately called a team huddle after Walcott scored. The defender also constantly called for the ball and tried to shape the Gunners’ play. But he lost Caleta-Car at the corner the Croatian scored from.
Sanderson questions Arteta after substituting Zinchenko
Arsenal’s increasingly desperate need for new offensive thinking convinced Arteta to switch Zinchenko and Nketiah with Southampton two goals clear. Although the striker struggled to make any impact. While Sanderson felt Holding should have been the one Arteta took off.
Sanderson told talkSPORT (21/4, 21:34): “I wouldn’t have taken Zinchenko off. Take Holding off instead.”
Holding did not make any glaring errors and stood up fairly well defensively despite Arsenal falling 3-1 behind against Southampton. Yet the centre-half could not influence the way the Gunners wanted to play out from the back as well as they required against a rigid defence.
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