By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) – Arsenal struck two late goals to rescue a point in a pulsating 3-3 home draw with bottom club Southampton but their Premier League title hopes suffered another blow on a night of frazzled nerves in north London on Friday.
The Gunners trailed by two goals inside 15 minutes with Carlos Alcaraz and former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott silencing the Emirates crowd.
Gabriel Martinelli struck back for the Gunners after 20 minutes and Arsenal were millimetres away from equalising in stoppage time at the end of a pulsating half as Ben White’s header was cleared off the line.
Southampton might have wilted under the home pressure in the second half but instead restored their two-goal lead in the 66th minute as substitute Duje Caleta-Car headed in at the back post.
With defeat looming, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard then curled home in the 87th minute and two minutes later Bukayo Saka scored from close range to spark bedlam in the stadium.
Arsenal laid siege to the Southampton goal but could not find the crucial winner.
Both sets of players collapsed to the turf at the final whistle after a result that helped neither side.
Arsenal lead the table by five points from Manchester City but they have now played two games more and have to go to the Etihad on Wednesday for what could be a pivotal clash.
Southampton remain bottom with 24 points.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
