Ramsdale faces criticism for "extreme meltdown" in Southampton draw as Arsenal's senior players slam team's performance

According to a reputable journalist, Aaron Ramsdale seemed to have experienced a "meltdown" in the first 15 minutes of Arsenal's 3-3 draw with Southampton.

The Premier League match was not for those easily discouraged. With stakes that affected both ends of the table, Arsenal's aspirations for the title and Southampton's hopes for survival suffered a significant setback in a chaotic and unpredictable encounter.

Arsenal faced a devastating loss to the Premier League's last-placed team, following Carlos Alcaraz's early goal, which resulted from a mistake by Ramsdale. Southampton came close to securing their first league triumph at the Emirates after Theo Walcott and Duje Caleta-Car scored, with Gabriel Martinelli responding with a goal in the first half.

Nonetheless, in a thrilling finale, captain Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka both scored in the dying minutes of the game to even the score and create a dramatic ending to the proceedings.

Despite Leandro Trossard hitting the crossbar in injury time, Arsenal was unable to score the crucial winning goal.

With their third consecutive draw, Arsenal will head into Wednesday's heavyweight clash with Manchester City carrying a five-point advantage. However, Manchester City currently holds the advantage in the title race.

Ramsdale “meltdown”

Following the match, Miguel Delaney from The Independent observed how Ramsdale's performance at the start of the Southampton game appeared apprehensive.

Indeed, seconds into the game, the England international gifted the ball to Carlos Alcaraz with a risky pass out, to allow the 20-year-old to rifle in the opener.

On the incident Delaney wrote: “There were so many elements of the opening 15 minutes that could almost represent the most extreme illustration of a meltdown, even going to the manner of it and the nature of the little twists – not to mention some of the key characters.

"Ramsdale has been one of the best-performing figures in Arsenal’s season and his saves against Liverpool could yet prove crucial, but he here immediately picked up from a panicking and flapping performance at West Ham United.

“That was by failing to pick out an Arsenal shirt. With the first action of the game, Ramsdale somehow just gave the ball to the excellent Carlos Alcaraz.

“He took it with open arms, which was a little like the goalkeeper for the shot. Alcaraz turned inside and fired through Ramsdale’s hands.”

Meanwhile, the football writer noted that other than Martinelli and Saka, Arsenal’s key players have lost form at a crucial time in the season.

Delaney said: “This was an encapsulation of why they may not win the title.

“There are of course bigger discussions to be had about the wider context of the Premier League, but Arsenal just looked like they didn’t have the experience together as a team to manage the real pressure.

So many of their senior players stopped performing to the level we’ve known all season.

“Thomas Partey couldn’t keep the ball. Jesus couldn’t direct it. Martin Odegaard wasn’t controlling the ball properly – until, finally, he diverted a shot into the corner near the end.”