Arsenal vs Southampton: Arsene Wenger allows frustrations to boil over in tunnel row with Ronald Koeman
Wenger attempted to confront referee Lee Mason but was met with a stern response from Southamtpon manager Koeman
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsene Wenger allowed his frustrations to boil over following the 0-0 draw with Southampton on Tuesday night after becoming involved in a tunnel confrontation with opposite man Ronald Koeman, with Arsenal losing further ground to Premier League title rivals Leicester and Manchester City.
While the top two in the league were reaping the rewards of having strikers who have regularly found the back of the net this season in Jamie Vardy and Sergio Aguero respectively, Arsenal slumped to consecutive Premier League matches without scoring, with the result leaving the Gunners five points off top and behind rivals Tottenham on goal difference.
In a sign that the pressure might be getting to Wenger, the Frenchman was involved in a row after the full-time whistle with Saints counterpart Koeman.
The incident occurred after Wenger shouted towards referee Lee Mason, with the Arsenal manager attempting to confront him. He was heard to shout: “It's always the same with you.”
Koeman heard the exchange and said exactly the same phrase back to Wenger, before adding: “You had 10 chances to score and didn’t take any of them, instead you take it out on them [the officials].”
Despite the tense exchange between the two managers, they did shake hands at the final whistle. However, Koeman is quickly becoming a new thorn in the side of Wenger, having lost just once in the five meetings between the two clubs since the Dutchman took over at St Mary’s in 2014.
Koeman oversaw Arsenal’s elimination from the Capital One Cup in his debut season, and despite a 1-0 loss at the Emirates he was able to notch a second victory with a 2-0 win over the Gunners on New Year’s Day.
This season, Arsenal infamously slumped to 4-0 thrashing on Boxing Day at St Mary’s, and last night’s goalless draw means Arsenal have not won in the Premier League since the 1-0 win over Newcastle on 2 January and have won just once in their last five games in all competitions.
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