Arsenal’s winning run came to an end against Southampton but the sky didn’t come crashing in and the world didn’t explode.

Arsenal won’t win the title this season. They will drop points. That has been the constant narrative from most pundits and a good chunk of the Arsenal fan base.

So, when Arsenal do actually drop points it shouldn’t be the end of the world, should it?

Arsenal were far from good at St Mary’s, especially in the second half against Southampton, but you can’t win every game. Even Manchester City can’t manage that, hence why Arsenal are still above them in the table.

There are many ways you can look at a draw with a struggling Southampton. I’m choosing to accept that it just wasn’t Arsenal’s afternoon and, on days like that, you need an official who will referee the game fairly.

Had Arsenal had one of those on Sunday, they would have won the game thanks to a couple of penalties and a red card or two for Southampton players.

You know, small decisions.

But, we didn’t have a ref with a clue so the players, who are knackered after an intensive start to the season running like their lives depend on it, are slowing down.

They need a break.

If I’d been offered seven points from three matches against Spurs, Liverpool and Southampton, I would have happily taken it.

Yes, it’s disappointing to drop the points against the weakest team of that trio, but that wasn’t the deal, it was a package.

You’d prefer to drop points against a side like Liverpool than Southampton, wouldn’t you? Except that’s not true. Had Arsenal dropped two points against Liverpool, it would have been proof that Arsenal can’t cope against the big sides.

There’s no winning when Arsenal don’t.

There will always be a reason to be angry at dropped points and football teams will always drop them.

“No complaints,” Mikel Arteta said after the game. “This is football.

“We were really good in the first half and controlled totally the game, we created loads of big chances that we didn’t put away.

“In the Premier League, unfortunately, if you don’t do that when you are top of the game you can have some difficulties.

“In the second half we put ourselves in problems with the amount of giveaways that we had, especially with ball possession, and that didn’t allow us to control the game the way we wanted.

“Their direct play and long throws and set pieces disrupted the game a lot. We tried to react and I still think in the second half the two biggest chances were ours but we didn’t put them away.

“I think we stopped doing all the simple things right. The distances on the ball positions were too far, we gave too many simple balls away in very dangerous areas without much pressure and that didn’t allow us much continuity like we had in the first half.

“Then you are more tired because the game becomes more open and there are more transitions and you are fatigued. I think again we finished the game on top of them and we tried to go for the second goal, but we didn’t find a way to do it.

“It was a consequence of one thing after the other and we didn’t stop it quick enough.

“We have the same [squad] that we had a month ago, two days ago, and the same as what we’re going to have next week. I don’t like to have any excuses.

“In the second half we could have played much better and we could have won much more comfortably than we did and it’s completely down to us.

“I think the team looked really fresh at the start. I put it more down to the way we played. We should have played better in the second half.”