Theo Walcott admits he felt like he couldn’t win playing against Arsenal on Friday, and he hopes the Gunners can still win the league.

Southampton's doctor Steve Baynes (2R) holds onto Jan Bednarek (C) as Theo Walcott (L) attempts to convince him not to come back on, having been hurt during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Southampton at the Emirates Stadium in London on April 21, 2023. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Southampton’s doctor Steve Baynes (2R) holds onto Jan Bednarek (C) as Theo Walcott (L) attempts to convince him not to come back on, having been hurt during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Southampton at the Emirates Stadium in London on April 21, 2023. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Long-time Arsenal winger Theo Walcott returned to the Emirates Stadium with Southampton on Friday night, and there’s no doubt he was put in a tricky position.

Though Walcott clearly feels affection for his former club and wants them to win the league, his current side sat 20th in the table ahead of the game and desperately needed a win to stay up.

After an early error gifted Carlos Alcaraz an opening goal, Walcott raced in behind the Arsenal defence to double Southampton’s lead. But he didn’t celebrate the goal, despite what it meant to his side.

Later in the game, with Arsenal 3-1 down, the home support clapped Walcott off as he was substituted. It was a touching gesture considering the huge frustration from the fans at the way the match was going.

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Post-match, Walcott talked up Arsenal’s performance, and admitted it was a no-win situation for him.

“Arsenal are just incredible,” Walcott said. “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.

“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.”

LONDON, ENGLAND: Theo Walcott of Southampton (L) celebrates with teammate Carlos Alcaraz after scoring the team's second goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Southampton FC at Emirates Stadium on April 21, 2023. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Theo Walcott of Southampton (L) avoids celebrating with teammate Carlos Alcaraz after scoring the team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Southampton FC at Emirates Stadium on April 21, 2023. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

In the end, no one really came away from Friday’s match satisfied.

Though they surely would have taken a point at the start of the game, Southampton will be gutted that they surrendered a 3-1 lead after the 87th minute of the game. With just six games left, they really needed that win.

As for Arsenal, the hosts had a couple of half-chances to win the contest in injury time, so to only earn a point was rather deflating.

We can only hope that point means something at the end of the season.

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