Football
Mattias Karen, Arsenal correspondent 7y

Arsenal made to pay for lack of urgency, weakness in Saints loss

LONDON -- Arsene Wenger said Arsenal lacked urgency in their 2-0 loss to Southampton in the EFL quarterfinals on Wednesday, but had no regrets about his team selection.

The defeat ended a 19-game unbeaten run for the Gunners and ensured that Wenger's search for a first title in the competition goes on. Southampton scored through Jordy Clasie and Ryan Bertrand with their only two shots on target in the first half and Arsenal never looked likely to stage a comeback.

"We had a disappointing performance, especially in the first half, and gave ourselves a mountain to climb. We were not good enough defensively and gave cheap goals away in the first half," Wenger said. "After that, in the second half it was better.

"But it was one of those nights where it looks like you can play two hours without scoring a goal. We had not enough urgency in the first half, and we were weak in some departments, and we paid for that."

Wenger rested many of his regular first-team starters, but had the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Francis Coquelin, Alex Iwobi and Mohamed Elneny in the lineup, with striker Lucas Perez returning from an injury as well. Granit Xhaka and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also came on off the bench.

However, it was a side that lacked coherence in their attacking play, with Ramsey struggling to make an impact in a No. 10 role.

"We were not incisive enough, in the first half especially," Wenger said. "If you give yourself a handicap of two goals in the first half against a Premier League team, it's difficult."

However, the Frenchman said he had no regrets about resting so many players for the game.

"I don't think that the problem was there, we had players who are used to top-level competition," he said. "I think we had not the right urgency from the start."

Elneny had to be taken off before half-time because of an illness, but Wenger said he was not injured.

"He was sick before the game. He decided he felt well enough, but I could see after five, 10 minutes that he was not right," Wenger said. "He has no medical injury problem, but he has diarrhea or a stomach problem."

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