Arsenal’s hopes of winning a treble came to a crashing halt after a 2-1 defeat to Southampton FC in the FA Cup quarter-finals at St Mary’s.
The Gunners had a 14-match unbeaten away run in all competitions before this tie.
The hosts, currently playing in the Championship, should have gone ahead early in the first half.
A mix-up at the back saw Gabriel Magalhães flick a goal-kick into the path of Saints forward Leo Scienza, who raced into open space and rounded Kepa Arrizabalaga, but took the ball too far and couldn’t get a shot away.
Southampton made it count 10 minutes before the break.
A floated cross from James Bree drifted over Ben White and fell to Ross Stewart at the back post, who finished on the half-volley to put the second-tier side in front.
Arsenal nearly gifted them another after the restart when Cristhian Mosquera misplaced a square pass across the back, but Kepa reacted well to tip Tom Fellows’ effort over the bar.
Moments later, the Saints came close again, with Scienza rattling the crossbar after winning the ball off White.
The visitors found their way back into the game with around 20 minutes to play.
Gabriel picked out Kai Havertz with a well-weighted ball, and the forward squared it for substitute Viktor Gyökeres to tap into an empty net.
However, the response was immediate.
Fellows drifted inside away from Riccardo Calafiori, and the ball broke kindly to Shea Charles, who curled his effort beyond Kepa to restore Southampton’s lead.
Arsenal pushed numbers forward in search of another equaliser, but Southampton held firm through six minutes of stoppage time to seal the win and book their place at Wembley for the semi-finals.
This defeat marks the second blow to Arsenal fans after their quadruple claim was thrashed by Manchester City a fortnight ago in Carabao cup final at Wembley