A breathless, classic Premier League contest culminated in a 3-3 draw between Arsenal and Southampton – a result which will have both teams feeling bitterly disappointed.
The Friday night kick-off got off to the worst possible start for the hosts, as less than half a minute following Simon Hooper's opening whistle, a critical mistake from Aaron Ramsdale allowed Carlos Alcaraz to give the Saints a shock early lead.
To make matters worse for the hosts, with 14 minutes gone, Alcaraz went from scorer to provider. Ex-Gunner, Theo Walcott, completed a comfortable, low finish to put the visitors into dreamland.
Even though Gabriel Martinelli's volley just a few minutes later temporarily calmed the developing unease amongst the home crowd, a 65th minute header from Duje Caleta-Car seemed to put the Saints back on their way to picking up a shock result.
Instead, late goals from Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka stunned the visitors, who lost their two-goal lead with just two minutes of the regulation 90 remaining.
Further chances followed, as Arsenal came so close to complete what would have been one of the greatest turnarounds of recent memory. Instead, their winless Premier League run was eventually extended to three games, as the title race further shifted into Manchester City's favour.
It is a similarly painful blow for Southampton, who came so close to moving just one point away from safety, but instead stay bottom of the table.
Story of the match
Oleksandr Zinchenko recovered from the groin injury which kept him out of action for last weekend's trip to West Ham, to retake the left-back slot from Kieran Tierney. There was also a rare Premier League start for Fabio Vieira, with the Portuguese midfielder slotting in for the ill Granit Xhaka.
There were three changes for Southampton from their damaging home loss against Crystal Palace – Romain Perraud, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Adam Armstrong came into the XI as Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Aribo and Kamaldeen Sulemana dropped out.
There had already been one remarkable start to a game at the Emirates Stadium recently, when Bournemouth took a shock lead within the opening 10 seconds of their visit to Arsenal at the start of March.
This time around, it took just 18 seconds longer for the Cherries' south coast companions to manage the same feat.
A poor pass out from Ramsdale gifted Alcaraz a chance to put the Saints ahead, but with the Argentine still having plenty of work to do. He quickly set himself up to have an attempt outside of the hosts' box, with his precise effort nestling in the bottom corner after a knick off Ramsdale's glove.
Surges into the box from Ødegaard and Martinelli followed soon after, as the Gunners set about correcting another opening-minute fiasco in front of their home crowd.
Instead, just like they did on the 3 March during the aforementioned visit of Bournemouth, Arsenal had their deficit doubled.
After the hosts gave the ball away loosely in midfield, Alcaraz was at the heart of another Southampton goal. The 20-year-old charged through the midfield and picked out the run of Walcott in-behind Gabriel perfectly. The ex-Arsenal man was left to roll a low, first-time finish past Ramsdale, which he did calmly.
However, the two goal advantage did not last long – six minutes, to be precise – as the table-toppers were able to knock a stunned home crowd into life.
Some neat play from Saka to take the ball past Perraud down the line and fire a low cross across the box allowed Martinelli to have a first-time snapshot at goal. The Brazilian's technique was expectedly top-class, as he redirected the ball on target, past a few Southampton bodies near the goal-line.
Chances continue to flow. A headed attempt from Elyounoussi was poorly dealt with by Ramsdale; after the goalkeeper's save was parried upwards, Alcaraz's acrobatic effort had to be dealt with as well.
The hosts responded through Zinchenko's whipped cross, providing an unmarked Ødegaard with a half-chance, but the captain's header was miscued and sent over the bar.
Once the clock ticked past the half-hour mark, the action and tempo of the match began to finally settle down after a raucous extended opening spell.
A nasty fall after a clash with Martinelli and subsequent treatment for Jan Bednarek resulted, much to the Polish international's evident disgruntlement, in him being taken off. Duje Caleta-Car took his place as medical teams from both clubs seemed to attempt to convince Bednarek that he was not fit to continue.
A headed clearance off the line from Alcaraz to deny Benjamin White an equaliser, a harsh tackle from Zinchenko – earning himself a yellow card – and a blocked Gabriel Jesus header were a few more flash points during an eventful seven minutes of first-half added time.
Alcaraz, after a brilliant 45 minutes, was taken off during the interval. Lyanco entered the fray, as the visitors diverted to a five-man backline.
Perhaps expectedly, given the Saints' restructure, the visitors' third of the pitch was under siege during the opening stages of the second half. However, for all of Arsenal's attempts, clear sights of goal were limited during the first 10 minutes of the second period.
Leandro Trossard's introduction at that point, in the place of Vieira, set about giving his team an additional attacking spark.
Instead, by the 65th minute, Arsenal still could not add to their tally of 14 first-half shots and they were then made to pay, as the Saints extended their lead back to two.
A rare expedition into the Arsenal half resulted in a corner earned by the visitors. From it, James Ward-Prowse's delivery was flicked on by Armel Bella-Kotchap towards the back post, where Caleta-Car completed the double-barrelled surname link-up, comfortably nodding in a header from close-range.
Jesus, with his team's first shot of the half, had a big chance to halve the lead again. Martinelli's precise cross picked out his compatriot, but the forward's outstretched volley attempt was way off target.
As a stubborn Southampton settled back into their hugely effective second-half shape and time ran on, Ruben Selles and his team were nearing closer towards one of, if not the, upset of the season.
However, their hard work all came undone as the finish line seemed so close.
First, Ødegaard's brilliant curled effort with the clock approaching the 90th minute ensured a tense finish to the contest – the Norwegian picked out the far corner with his whipped effort from just outside of the box.
Remarkably, just a couple of minutes later, Saka tapped in a rebound after Reiss Nelson's attempt and brought the Gunners level.
Even after the hectic few minutes which saw the game and the result of it completely flip on its head, Arsenal had time to search for a potential winner.
Within the eight minutes of added time, Trossard's left-footed attempt from distance clipped the bar and a deflected shot from Nelson – nearly the scorer of another stoppage time winner for Arsenal – was deflected narrowly past the post.
Southampton managed to survive one more chaotic late scramble in their box, just as time approached the 100-minute mark. It seemed as if a lifetime had passed from first to last whistle in this game – one which ultimately ended in huge disappointment for both teams.
Player of the match – Carlos Alcaraz
Even though the Argentine only played half of the match, his impact on the fixture was substantial enough within the opening 45 minutes to warrant the title.
A very well-taken goal in the opening minute of the game, followed by an elegant drive through midfield and through ball through to Walcott meant two goal contributions for the young talent.
He will feel extremely unfortunate to not be on the winning side of this contest, as Southampton's late collapse means they remain bottom of the table.
