Southampton’s Theo Walcott 'felt a lot of fear' in Arsenal during scoring return at old club
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Updated 17/12/2020 at 11:32 GMT
Theo Walcott said he could feel "fear" from out of form Arsenal, after returning to his old club to open the scoring for Southampton during a 1-1 draw in the Premier League. The result ended a three game losing streak for the Gunners and left Southampton third in the table, with the north Londonders 15th and closer to the relegation zone than the top four.
Theo Walcott opens the scoring for Southampton against Arsenal
Image credit: Getty Images
Theo Walcott says he could feel “a lot of fear” in struggling Arsenal, after his Southampton side maintained their good form with a 1-1 draw to leave them third in the Premier League.
The 47-capped England international opened the scoring in the first half on his return to the club, before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ended a recent drought to earn his side a point.
The result ended a run of three straight top flight defeats for the Gunners, but Mikel Arteta’s side are still winless in the league since the start of November and sit 15th in the table after 13 matches.
Walcott, who returned to his boyhood club on loan from Everton in October, told Amazon Prime: “I felt a lot of fear in Arsenal tonight, to be honest. They’re going through a very difficult time and we’re one of the worst teams to play at this moment in time.
It shows how far we’ve come that we’re very disappointed to come away without the three points.
Walcott’s view on Arsenal was news to Arteta, who played with the forward during his playing days at the Emirates.
“I don’t know. I was going to say, I just spoke with him and he never mentioned that to me”, said the Arsenal boss.
“He mentioned other things but not that. But, I don’t know… if he said that, it’s his feeling.”
Walcott ignored the trend of a so-called ‘muted celebration’ against a former side, wheeling away to be congratulated by his teammates after his goal, despite risking a backlash from fans of his old employers.
"Scoring a goal, no matter who you play, is one of the best feelings and I scored many goals here”, he said.
Playing for Southampton is a massive thing for me so to score a goal, why not? Why wouldn't I celebrate?
Ahead of the match, Arteta said he was prepared to “take the bullets” of criticism, and hopes a positive result, coupled with a goal for Aubameyang, will give his captain confidence going forward.
“Hopefully it’s going to change everything and he will start to score every game”, he said of the Gabon forward.
“This is what we need at the moment.
“We need the points, in order to do that we need more goals and to be more efficient when we have the chances so I think it’s going to make him good.”
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