Is season running away from frazzled Arsenal?
That was the message from the official Southampton X account to a disgruntled Arsenal fan who had chirped back at the Saints' post celebrating their shock FA Cup victory. Just 14 days ago the Gunners were being tipped for an unprecedented quadruple but after defeats to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and the loss to Southampton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, those dreams are in tatters. Shea Charles scored an 85th-minute winner to dump the Gunners out of the competition after substitute Viktor Gyokeres had levelled following Ross Stewart's first-half opener.
It is the first time this season the Gunners have suffered back-to-back defeats and it is just their fifth loss of this campaign. The talk will now move to whether Arsenal will be able to block out the noise and deal with the pressure that will be heaped onto them following this result, with the Premier League and Champions League still to play for. The Gunners have not won the Premier League for 22 years and have finished in second place for three successive seasons.
The Carabao Cup final was Arsenal's first chance to win a major trophy for six years. And after losing to City and now being knocked out of the FA Cup by a lower league team for the first time since 2021-22 - a third round loss to Nottingham Forest - the Gunners need to ensure these defeats do not turn into a slump in form. "They have to not let the season run away from them," former Arsenal and Southampton forward Theo Walcott told BBC Sport.
"Everything they have built this season, don't let it affect them. They have been in this situation before and they don't want to relive that. " Mikel Arteta has consistently spoken about everyone at the club's desire to win but with the end of the season approaching, games running out, and a £250m spend in the summer, the pressure is at an all-time high.
Walcott said he noticed a "nervous energy" on the touchline at St Mary's that has been seen before in recent years. "Visually watching Mikel on the sidelines, it was elements of previous years where that energy reflected into the team," he said. "It was very tense.