Dusan Tadic took a beautiful free kick, but Petr Cech’s handling of it officially makes it an own goal.
With the Manchester derby on tap, it was easy to forget that there were other Premier League games being played. But once it wrapped up, English football fans could get back to surfing between five different 3 p.m. games.
Arguably the second most important fixture of the week was Arsenal vs. Southampton. With Arsene Wenger’s men off to a slow start, they can’t afford to lose many more games if they want to stay in the race for the title, or even their coveted fourth place spot. In addition, with Paris Saint-Germain getting off to a slow start, they want to build some momentum heading into the Champions League.
But after Claudio Bravo poorly mishandled a ball, Petr Cech did the same on Dusan Tadic’s free kick, reminding us all that even the best in the world can make mistakes:
That officially goes down as an own goal, but Tadic deserves credit for playing that free kick very well. Nevertheless, that was not the start that Arsenal fans were hoping for. It may only be the fourth week, but fans are already growing tired of Arsene Wenger, and if he doesn’t deliver results, he could be on the hot seat soon.
The biggest thing fans are getting impatient over is Wenger’s handling of the transfer window. They’ve been active this season, but last year, they thought that Petr Cech would be enough to win the league. Barring this unfortunate own goal, he’s been excellent for them, but he can’t get them to the top of the Premier League table by himself.
The additions of Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez, then, are too little too late, and well below what’s expected of Arsenal in the transfer window. Even if they do string together some wins, it won’t be long before the inevitable fall back to Earth.