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Football London
Football London
Sport
Kieran Horn

Southampton's bizarre secret weapon against Aaron Ramsdale which cost Arsenal two points

In only three fixtures out of 18 have Arsenal failed to pick up maximum points so far this season. The defeats to Manchester United and PSV along with the draw against Southampton are the only blemishes on the record of Mikel Arteta's side.

The Gunners flew to the top of the Premier League winning their opening five games before their run was ended by Manchester United at the start of September. Despite the setback, Arsenal were able to begin another winning streak that lasted four games before a 1-1 draw with Southampton brought that to a close.

Arsenal were fortunate to pick up three points the previous week against Leeds but were able to see out a tense 1-0 victory. However, they had no such luck on the south coast with Stuart Armstrong latching onto a smart Mohamed Elyounoussi pass before sliding the ball beyond the on-rushing Aaron Ramsdale.

READ MORE: Mudryk or Zaha sign, Tielemans agreement - transfers Arsenal must complete in January window

In the aftermath of the goal, Ramsdale came under some criticism for seemingly diving to his left too early which then allowed Armstrong the simple task of rolling his effort into the opposite corner, but it's now come to light his mind perhaps may have been elsewhere.

In a video posted to the official Premier League Twitter account, a clip of the Saints' equaliser is shown which includes two separate frames of Ramsdale looking to his left before Armstrong is released through on goal. Once the ball nestles in the back of the net the clip then changes to a different angle which shows a pigeon sheepishly walking away from the Arsenal goal.

A similar incident occurred during a game between Liverpool and Sunderland 13 years ago - though perhaps a little more of an impact was had - when a Darren Bent shot struck a beachball, bamboozling Pepe Reina in goal with the correct ball then landing in the back of the net.

Now, unlike the beachball incident, the pigeon may not be the main reason Southampton netted that equaliser and thus cost Arsenal two point. But somebody may have to take that assist off Mohamed Elyounoussi as it seems Ramsdale has his focus elsewhere as he was setting up his angles.

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