At St. Mary's, Arsenal was held to a dismal tie

On Sunday at St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton held English Premier League (EPL) leaders Arsenal to a dismal 1-1 draw despite Granit Xhaka's excellent early goal.

Stuart Armstrong scored a deserving equalizer for the home team in the second half, giving Arsenal 28 points from 11 games, two more than Manchester City in second place.

With 12 points after 12 games, Southampton is in fifteenth place.

In the first 15 minutes, the visitors appeared unstoppable as they pounded the home goal with wave after wave of strikes.

They received a commendable start from Xhaka, who also scored the game-winning goal in the previous week's Europa League victory over PSV EindhovenIn his first 263 appearances for the North London club, the Swiss international had not scored with his right foot, but he has in his last two contests.

White added, "We started well and we should have scored more but we're just human and it's tricky. We're disappointed with our second-half performance.

"We were careless with the ball and lost duels. In contrast to the first half, this was.

Gabriel Jesus's superb acrobatic attempt was stopped by the home team's goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu as Arsenal threatened to score a second goal.

Martin Odegaard's excellent pass gave Jesus another chance to score, but Mohamed Elyounoussi's outstanding block ended the threat.

Surely Southampton wasOn the 65th minute, a swift counterattack paid off when Elyounoussi passed the ball into the path of Armstrong, who calmly finished past goalie Aaron Ramsdale.

After then, the home team appeared to have a better chance of winning, but it only generated half-chances.

They will undoubtedly view it as a well-earned point and perhaps as a launchpad for this campaign's future success.

"It wasn't the best start, and it was always going to be a tough game. But for us to get a point is incredible," said Armstrong, who scored both goals.

"To reduce their chances, we rapidly adjusted the shape and positioned deeper. We were aware of our potential for harm during the counterattack.

Next Sunday, Arsenal hosts Nottingham Forest at home. relieved..