Arsenal bottle it, come back in epic fashion, still kind of bottle it in the end

The Gunners produced a fantastic comeback, but dropping two points at home was a huge missed opportunity

There has been a suggestion from some corners recently that Arsenal’s recent dip in form did not represent the Gunners “bottling” the Premier League title.

The argument, which is not without its merits, goes something like this: Even if the Gunners are dropping points at the worst possible time, the fact that they are in the title race at all is a minor miracle — and a second-place finish would still be worth celebrating.

Arsenal let a two-goal slip to draw 2-2 with Liverpool two weeks ago, but that was Liverpool, right? It happens.

Then, Arsenal did the exact same thing last week against West Ham. OK, slightly less defensible but we’re not in full-blown bottle territory or anything.

And then came Friday.

A home match against last-place Southampton was an ideal — and necessary — opportunity to get on the right track.

And then 20 seconds into the game, Aaron Ramsdale did this.

Things wouldn’t get much better from there, particularly when ex-Gunners star Theo Walcott doubled Southampton’s lead on 14 minutes.

Gabriel Martinelli would pull one back for Arsenal four minutes later, but Duje Ćaleta-Car’s header midway through the second half looked to have sealed an improbable win for Southampton.

However, Arsenal sprung into life late on. Martin Ødegaard found a goal in the 88th minute and two minutes later, the Gunners were level through Bukayo Saka.

Stirring as the comeback was, a 3-3 home draw with the Premier League’s worst team is decidedly not the result Arsenal needed on Friday.

Arsenal is now just five points ahead of Manchester City, which crucially has two games in hand.

Wednesday’s game between the two teams is looking like a possible title decider. Facing City is a massive opportunity for Arsenal, but it’s also a treacherous fixture for a team that may be seeing its confidence ebbing away at the worst time.

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