Arsenal's Unbeaten Streak Snapped by ... Wait, Who?

Gotta wonder how many bookies just got their kids put through private school based on this one result.

It's proof yet again that the one sure thing is there is no sure thing.

There the Southampton Saints were, mired in the relegation zone, starting the day with one whole Premiership victory to their name, whose main objective was surely to count on a bonanza in gate receipts because a whale like Arsenal came to town.

But down in the bowels of St Mary's Stadium, their players had probably never heard of St Herman, but by golly, they sure believe his message:

 

Damn right it does.

And frankly, sides facing relegation -- and the financial devastation that leaving the Premiership can bring -- are always dangerous, especially on their home turf.

Maybe toss in the Saints on Sunday factor, and this side was wired for a miracle.

Still, Southampton being the crew to hand mighty Arsenal their first loss in 22 straight matches via their 3-2 upset was more a result of dogged hard work than divine intervention.

 

For a day, at least. Dudes still have lotsa work to do to avoid the drop.

But what a way to bank three precious points! Danny Ings and Charlie Austin stepped up, big time to more than offset the efforts of Arsenal's Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The Gunners' opening salvos predictably came at a frenetic pace, and they should have opened the scoring but for wasted opportunities that would come back to haunt them.

That regret first appeared in the 20th minute when Matt Targett's cross from the left found Ings, who headed home:

 

Arsenal responded in the 28th through Mkhitaryan.

Nacho Monreal's cross found the Armenian, who reminded the homeboys just who they were messing with:

 

Seemed like the Saints already knew but didn't care.

On the verge of the break, dudes regained the lead when Arsenal's defense failed to clear a cross from Nathan Redmond. The ball ended up with Ings, who headed home a looper into Bernd Leno's top corner:

 

In other words ...

 

The Gunners emerged from intermission hellbent to put this one away, and in the 53rd, they leveled things up again.

Mkhitaryan robbed the ball from Oriol Romeu and unleashed a burner from the edge of the box that took a crucial detour via Jannik Vestergaard:

 

One would've thought this was the momentum-turner everyone anticipated was gonna happen sooner or later. Arsenal definitely felt that way, and it showed.

The Gunners threw themselves at Southampton and were close to cashing in the winner on a couple of occasions, but at the same time, dudes were conceding a few dangerous counter-attacks. 

The one that bit them occurred in 85th minute. A Saints counter led to a cross from the right that made it to Austin, who merely needed to nod into an empty net after a terrible howler from Leno:

 

What the hell. It wasn't a classic winner, but they all count.

While Arsenal's still in the thick of the scramble for a spot in Europe, Southampton's remarkable triumph has lifted it outta the relegation zone, if only by goal difference.

But it's better than where they were on Sunday morning.

And they've still got the rich gate.