Arteta demands Arsenal response after FA Cup shocker at Southampton
Arsenal suffered a shock FA Cup exit against Southampton (Glyn KIRK) Mikel Arteta urged Arsenal to "show what we are made of" after their shock 2-1 defeat against second tier Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday. Arteta's side fell behind to Ross Stewart's first-half goal at a raucous St Mary's before Viktor Gyokeres came off the bench to net the second-half equaliser. Arsenal were well below their best in the absence of injured England stars Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, while Brazil defender Gabriel Magalhaes limped off with a knee injury.
They were punished in the 85th minute when Shea Charles steered in Southampton's winner from the edge of the area. Arteta admitted he was disappointed with Arsenal's lacklustre performance, with their sloppy defending especially frustrating. "We conceded the first goal in a very unusual way for us, the second one was from direct play as well," he said.
"We didn't manage the long balls well enough. We just let the ball through us. Difficult to explain but credit to them.
"We had so much dominance in and around the box. We had two massive chances and needed to capitalise on that. But if you make defending errors we made today it's very difficult to be in the semi-final.
" Arsenal's hopes of a first FA Cup triumph since 2020 -- their last major trophy -- were blown away on the blustery south-coast. The Premier League leaders have seen their quadruple and treble bids shattered by a 2-0 defeat against Manchester City in the League Cup final and now the limp loss to Southampton. "You have to adapt to the wind, the injuries.