Arsenal dropped points for the second time in the Premier League this season. Mikel Arteta’s side were unable to find a winner in a 1-1 draw against Southampton.
It is the first time that the north London side have failed to win since the start of September, when the Gunners lost 3-1 at Old Trafford to rivals Manchester United. Despite this, Arsenal still sit at the top of the league.
With less than a month remaining until the season breaks to due the winter World Cup in Qatar, Arsenal still have six games to play, with matches against PSV Eindhoven, Nottingham Forest, FC Zurich, Chelsea, Brighton and Wolves on the horizon before the season pauses.
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With Arsenal’s squad being stretched it is a great chance for fringe players to potentially get an opportunity in the team, which is something many of the Arsenal loan army will be hoping for next season and with that in mind, football.london takes a look at how they got on this weekend.
After being dropped last weekend, Nicolas Pepe provided the perfect response as he netted a crucial last-minute penalty to secure Nice a point in a 1-1 draw against Nantes, meanwhile Pablo Mari’s Monza were dismantled 4-1 by Serie A champions AC Milan, with the Spaniard starting at the heart of the defence. The same fortunes followed for Auston Trusty, who started in Birmingham’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Blackburn.
Returning to France, Folarin Balogun showed his clinical nature once by netting his seventh goal of the season as he scored the opening goal in Reims 2-1 victory over Auxerre, whilst Nuno Tavares played the full 90 minutes as Marseille slumped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at home to RC Lens.
Rounding off the Gunners' first-team players out on loan, Arthur Okonkwo was in goal as Crewe Alexandra drew 1-1 with Doncaster, Runar Alex Runarsson also failed to keep a clean sheet as Alanyaspor drew 2-2 with Turkish giants Galatasary, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles was unavailable for selection for Southampton as the Saint’s played his parent side in Arsenal.
It was a mixed weekend for several of Arsenal's youngsters in the Championship as Harry Clarke was a second half substitute as Stoke City lost 2-0 to Coventry City, whilst Charlie Patino earned a 9/10 rating from the Blackpool Gazette after playing a starring role in a victory over rivals Preston North End, a game in which he scored in. But Brooke Norton-Cuffy tasted defeat whilst in action for Rotherham against Salah-Eddine ’s Hull City, but the youngster didn’t feature.
In League One, Tyreece John-Jules started in Ipswich Town's 1-0 win over Derby County. Mazeed Ogungbo didn't make Crawley Town's matchday squad as they beat Mansfield Town 3-2.
Tim Akinola was on the losing side in the National League as Chesterfield were beaten by Tom Smith’s Bromley. Ovie Ejeheri started in Chelmsford City’s 2-1 victory over Hemel Hempstead.
Arsenal have as many as five youngsters out on loan at clubs across Europe but neither Mika Biereth, Marcelo Flores, Omar Rekik or Miguel Azeez played for their sides. Nikolaj Muller was a late sub in FC Den Bosc’s late defeat against MVV.
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