Arsenal missed the chance to regain their four-point lead at the Premier League summit after Stuart Armstrong's second-half equaliser held the Gunners to a 1-1 draw at Southampton.
The Gunners had enjoyed their best start to a top-flight campaign and dominated the first half on Sunday at St. Mary's Stadium, with Granit Xhaka opening the scoring.
Arsenal continued to look good value for their lead, with Gabriel Jesus spurning a couple of chances, but Southampton fought back as Armstrong levelled in the 65th minute.
Martin Odegaard saw a late strike ruled out as Arsenal moved two points clear of second-placed Manchester City, while Southampton extended their unbeaten run to three games and climbed into 15th.
Gavin Bazunu denied a fizzing Xhaka drive and Odegaard whipped narrowly wide, though Arsenal's early dominance soon paid dividends after 11 minutes.
Ben White overlapped down the right and clipped in a low centre for Xhaka, who expertly fired into the roof of the net.
Jesus almost doubled the lead but blasted just wide and should have sent Arsenal in two goals ahead at half-time when he volleyed straight at Bazunu one-on-one following a smart Xhaka throughball.
A last-ditch Mohamed Elyounoussi thwarted Jesus after the interval before the midfielder teed up Armstrong at the other end, with the Scotland international sliding past Aaron Ramsdale.
Odegaard thought he had grabbed a late winner, only for the assistant to flag for a goal-kick after Kieran Tierney failed to keep the ball in play in the build-up.
What does it mean? In-form Gunners falter
Arsenal's failure to grind out wins was a regular flaw in recent seasons, yet they went some way to easing those concerns with some resolute performances in the nine victories from their opening 10 league games.
Mikel Arteta's side appeared set to earn yet another narrow triumph, though an underwhelming second-half showing – coupled with a lack of clinical finishing – saw them drop points for just the second time this season.
With Chelsea to follow in November and City showing no signs of relenting in their title pursuit, Arteta will be frustrated to drop points at Southampton, who had lost seven of their last 11 Premier League home games.
Great Granit
Xhaka's impressive form for the Gunners continued as the Switzerland international scored his fourth goal in all competitions this season, matching his best return for Arsenal in a single campaign.
The Gunners have never lost in 18 games when Xhaka has scored (W15 D3), though Arsenal will be frustrated to not leave the south coast with victory here.
Jesus fails to deliver
Jesus has been a leading figure within a new-look Arsenal side, blending his hard-work ethic with an eye for goal up top, though the Brazil international failed to fire for the Gunners at Southampton.
The forward attempted a game-high four shots but only found the target with one of those, squandering presentable opportunities in either half in a disappointing showing.
What's next?
Arsenal head to PSV in the Europa League on Thursday before hosting Nottingham Forest on Sunday, while Southampton visit Crystal Palace the day before.
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
Harwood-Bellis 'didn't quite believe' first senior England call-up
Taylor Harwood-Bellis revealed he was in a state of disbelief when he was told about his first call-up to the England senior team last week.
Harwood-Bellis, along with Newcastle's Lewis Hall, received their maiden Three Lions call-ups in Lee Carsley's final squad as interim head coach.
The Southampton defender has impressed under Russell Martin this season, featuring in all of their Premier League fixtures so far this season.
Harwood-Bellis has won more aerial duels (13) for the Saints in the top-flight this term, with only Jan Bednarek (888) completing more passes than the 22-year-old (684).
He is also someone well known to the interim boss from his time in charge of England's Under-21's side, with his 21 appearances more than any other player during Carsley's tenure in the current Three Lions squad.
"Lee Carsley rang me in the morning and said, 'you'll be with us, with the seniors'. I didn't quite believe it at first," he told a press conference.
"My partner was next to me and I phoned my dad, who was very proud. He loves when I play for England, even the younger age groups.
"One of the first people to message me was Aaron Ramsdale. I was happy to see his name as he's one of my mates at the club."
Unfortunately for Harwood-Bellis, Ramsdale has since pulled out of the squad with a finger injury and has been replaced by Burnley's James Trafford.
England travel to Athens to take on Group B2 leaders Greece on Thursday before returning to Wembley three days later as they square off against the Republic of Ireland.
With a number of first-team regulars out through injury, Harwood-Bellis has the opportunity to become the first Saints player to represent England since Kyle Walker-Peters did so back in 2022.
The defender understood the potential ramifications of performing well for the Three Lions during this international break, with Thomas Tuchel taking over in the new year.
"It will be a big motivation for all of the lads, knowing that there's a new manager coming in and wanting to keep your spot," he said.
"That's something that especially the younger lads will be pushing towards.
"It's going to be difficult because of the quality and experience in some of the lads that aren't here is massive.
"It'll be difficult, but it'll be something that I'll focus on week in and week out for Southampton and if I get minutes here."
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