22 April 2023 , 07:12
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Theo Walcott believes Arsenal can still win the Premier League title - despite hampering their chances on Friday night.
Walcott, who spent nearly 12 years at the Emirates, scored Southampton's second goal in their 3-3 draw at Arsenal. The result leaves the Gunners five points clear of Manchester City in second having played two games more. City are now the favourites for the title.
Arsenal will need to beat Pep Guardiola's side at the Etihad on Wednesday night to regain the initiative in the title race. That is a daunting task considering City won 3-1 at the Emirates in February, yet Walcott believes his former club can pull off a shock.
Walcott spoke to NBC Sports after Friday night's game. He said: "Arsenal are just incredible. We played Man City the other week and I thought Arsenal were way better than them.
"That’s how I see Arsenal at the moment. We can take a lot of positives from this game because they [Arsenal] are the best team in this league at this moment in time."
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Walcott added: "My son’s going to be really disappointed that I didn’t celebrate but I just couldn’t. It was a very indifferent day for me today, I felt like I couldn’t win. Hopefully, now Arsenal can go on and win the league and beat Man City on Wednesday."
Theo Walcott refused to celebrate his goal against Arsenal (Julian Finney/Getty Images)Do you agree with Theo Walcott? Let us know in the comments below!
Walcott, who won 47 senior caps for England, joined Arsenal in the summer of 2006 and went on to score 108 goals in 397 games for the club. He was part of three FA Cup-winning squads and helped Arsene Wenger's side consistently finish in the top four.
As such, it's no surprise that Walcott wants his former employers to clinch the title. Yet he was never going to miss his golden opportunity to score against the Gunners on Friday night, with Southampton desperate for points at the bottom of the table.
The Saints are three points from safety and in serious danger of relegation, with only six Premier League fixtures remaining. A victory at the Emirates would've been priceless, and they would've been confident of achieving that after a blistering start to the game.
Southampton raced into a two-goal lead inside 14 minutes thanks to strikes from Carlos Alcaraz and Walcott. Gabriel Martinelli pulled one back for the Gunners before Duje Caleta-Car's second-half header left Southampton on the verge of an unlikely win.
Yet late goals from Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka snatched a point for the Gunners. The result benefits neither side, something Walcott spoke about it full-time. He added: "Everyone feels a bit deflated I think, that’s the sense I got from the fans and both teams.
"We were in a great position of course and we kind of threw it away. Before the game, we would have taken a point against the team at the top of the league but with five minutes to go we felt we were in control."