Gabriel Jesus issued a “wake up” call to his Arsenal colleagues following the Premier League leaders’ 1-1 draw against Southampton.
Granit Xhaka’s early strike gave the Gunners the advantage at St. Mary’s, but Mikel Arteta‘s side dropped points for just the second time this year as the Saints punished the Gunners for a subpar performance after the break. Jesus, looking to bolster his tally of five goals
in 14 appearances for the Gunners.
Prior to Stuart Armstrong’s equalizing goal for Southampton with 25 minutes remaining, Arsenal forward Jesus himself missed out on the few chances the visitors had to increase their lead.
"Everyone is a little bit upset because we know we could win the game, get the three points," Jesus told Arsenal's website. "I think they played good, but we were better than them. We give them a lot of easy balls and then we don't score the goals with the chances we create."
Nevertheless, the Brazil international said it was important Arsenal held their nerve and put this result into context.
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"Now is the time you know everyone is going to talk about us, about our performance; I just want to say to the team to be calm. "We are going to come back strong, play our football, like we started the season and everything is coming back to normal. "Sometimes you drop a little bit, but you have to realise and wake up. That's what we have to do."
Jesus, who joined from English champions Manchester City in a $50 million (£45 million) preseason transfer, is aware that he has gone five games in all competitions without scoring.
"I don't know, I really don't know," he said when asked about his failure to score against Southampton.
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Jesus continued: "If I know, I can tell you. But the only thing I can do is keep trying, keep fighting, and keep getting better."
He currently has five goals in 14 games for the Gunners.
“I am here to score goals, I am here to help the team with the goals. I understand that. Of course, the goals are coming back soon.”
Arsenal are now two points ahead of City, who play Nottingham Forest at home on Saturday after playing PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League in midweek.
