Arsenal did little to ease the pressure on Mikel Arteta as they dropped points for a sixth successive Premier League match and had a player sent off yet again in a 1-1 home draw with Southampton on Wednesday.

Arteta’s men did at least manage to avoid a historic fifth home league defeat in a row, but, as has become something of a habit, they were compromised by indiscipline just as they had started to show encouraging signs and could ultimately consider themselves lucky to hold on to a point.

Arsenal initially struggled to get to grips with Southampton and only really began offer a threat of their own in the latter stages of the first period – by that point, former Gunner Theo Walcott had already given the visitors a deserved lead.