Gary Neville sends warning to Arsenal after nervy victory over Southampton

10/06/2024 06:48 AM

Gary Neville applauded Arsenal following an ‘important’ 3-1 win over Southampton and warned Mikel Arteta’s men that they cannot afford to let Manchester City build any sort of lead at this early stage in the season.

Lowly Southampton threatened to pull off an almighty upset as Cameron Archer fired the visitors in front in the 55th minute to silence the Emirates crowd.

But the home team hit back with an immediate equaliser through Kai Havertz, before goals from Gabriel Martinelli put the home team out of sight in north London.

The result leaves Arsenal in third place, with Liverpool holding a one-point lead over the Gunners and champions Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.

At the same stage last season, City sat in Liverpool’s position – with a one-point advantage at the summit – and Pep Guardiola’s side will look to reclaim top spot when they travel to Wolves after the international break.

‘I said before the game about Arsenal and City getting the job done today and they’ve got their jobs done,’ former Manchester United and England right-back Neville said on NBC Sports after City survived a scare to defeat Fulham.

‘But I think for City, other clubs will look at that and see that Fulham have scored twice.

‘I said before the game that I wasn’t sure if City could win the league with [Mateo] Kovacic and he went and scored two goals, but they did look a bit open in midfield.

‘Then on Arsenal, Russell Martin, Southampton’s manager, called them soft, lacking in fight and spirit… I think he’ll have probably changed his mind after today because they did put up a real show for large parts of that game.

‘But Arsenal got there in the end and I think it’s an important one for them going into the international break.’

According to Neville, Arsenal simply ‘cannot afford’ to fall behind the title race when the Premier League resumes.

‘It’s mind-blowing to me. I think when [Jose] Mourinho came [to Chelsea] in the mid-2000s, he changed the game,’ he added.

‘We used to think that we could saunter along up to Christmas, January we’d be okay and then kicking on in February through to April and May, where we really had to hit our stride.

‘Mourinho came in and then went so far in front, starting really quickly out of the blocks, and it got to the point whereby you can’t afford to go behind in terms of points before Christmas.

‘I think that’s the same now with Pep Guardiola. If you think about Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and now Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, having to chase them all the time.

‘You have to stay with them right from the very beginning.’

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