NEWS » four wickets.Bengal 528 for 8 dec (Chatt

February 2 was Groundhog Day and the same old problems resurfaced for Arsenal against Southampton. Nick Wright was at the Emirates Stadium for Sky Sports as the Gunners Premier League blip threatened to turn into a collapse… Koeman confronts Wenger Arsene Wenger and Ronald Koeman had a post-match confrontation after Arsenals 0-0 draw. The cruel jokes had started circulating on social media long before the chorus of boos that greeted the final whistle. It was Groundhog Day and Arsenal had marked the occasion by dropping to fourth place - the position in which they have finished in six of the last 10 seasons.Its a grimly familiar feeling for the Gunners. How quickly things have changed. Four weeks ago they were two points clear at the top of the table and seemingly on course for their first Premier League title since 2003/04, but a desperately frustrating night against Southampton extended a damaging winless streak to four games. The heroics of Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster should not be overlooked, but Arsenal have only themselves to blame. They are now as close to fifth place as they are to first, and it appears the same old problems are holding them back…Wasteful finishing Fraser Forster denies Mesut Ozil in the first half with a point-blank save Forster deserves immense credit for the 10 saves that kept the hosts at bay, but what of Arsenals finishing? Dominating possession and failing to take advantage has become a familiar refrain in recent years, and since the 3-3 draw at Anfield on January 13, they have gone three Premier League games without finding the net.And while they mustered just four shots on target in their games against Stoke and Chelsea, creativity was certainly not the issue here. Not one team in my one-and-a-half years of managing Southampton have created what Arsenal created today, said Southampton manager Ronald Koeman.Eighteen of the Gunners 21 shots came in an utterly dominant second half, but they should have been ahead before then. Forsters point-blank save from Ozil shortly before the break was rightly lauded, but the Germans furious reaction told its own story. It would have been easier to score. Arsene Wenger expresses his disappointment at Arsenals poor finishing following their goalless draw with Southampton Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez had 12 shots between them without finding a way through, while Laurent Koscielny sent a free header over from six yards, and Ozil was at fault again when he delayed his shot and allowed Virgil van Dijk to make a vital last-ditch tackle in the closing stages.The performance we wanted to produce was there but we cannot be happy with the way we finished our chances, said Arsene Wenger in his post-match press conference. Thats what I think is the most disappointing, that some players missed chances they usually take. Our finishing is very bad at the moment. In the last three games we had chances we didnt take. At this level thats important. Wenger laments poor finishing Arsene Wenger felt his side had plenty of chances to win the game against Southampton. Character lacking? Petr Cech insists Arsenal should have won their clash against Southampton and praises his opposite number Fraser Forster Joe Allens last-gasp equaliser for Liverpool at Anfield last month presented Arsenal with a major mental test of their title credentials. Could they show the character of champions by putting that psychological blow behind them? Two points and no goals from three games suggests not.Petr Cech has brought calmness and authority to the defence and there have been encouraging victories over the likes of Manchester United and City, but complacency still haunts Wengers team, and recent performances indicate they still cant cope when the pressures on.The manager admitted his side were nervous in the first half against Southampton, and their conviction appeared to drain away with every missed chance. And while Forster was outstanding for the visitors, Arsenals lack of ruthlessness was an even greater factor in the result. They require a dramatic turnaround in the weeks ahead if they are to avoid another second-half-of-the-season capitulation.The cost of injuries Mathieu Flaminis performances have come in for criticism in recent weeks Arsenals annual injury crisis has eased in recent weeks, and they were boosted by the return of Sanchez against Southampton after his two-month spell in the treatment room. The Chilean is not the only player on his way back to full fitness, but the injuries are still taking their toll.Central midfield has been particularly problematic. Arsenal allowed more shots on target (24) than any other Premier league side in the absence of first-choice anchorman Francis Coquelin in January, and the Frenchman was only fit enough for the bench against the Saints.In his and Santi Cazorlas absence, Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini have been unable to develop an effective partnership, and while they only faced three shots on target against Southampton, Oriol Romeu and Vincent Wanyama certainly came out on top in the midfield battle. Inspired Foster denies Arsenal Read our match report as Fraser Forster helps Southampton claim a point against Arsenal. Wenger will be hoping January signing Mohamed Elneny can provide additional support after his encouraging debut in the FA Cup against Burnley, but the Egyptians absence from the squad against Southampton suggests he wont feature prominently just yet, and Arsenal badly miss the control and intelligence of Cazorla.The little Spaniard became a vital component of Wengers side after moving to central midfield last year, and this season he still ranks first at the club for passes per game in the Premier League (82.1) and second for chances created (2.6). The sooner the Coquelin-Cazorla axis is available again, the better. Rivals make them pay Wengers misery was compounded by victories for Arsenals title rivals Arsenals miserable evening was compounded by results elsewhere, as Leicester, Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United claimed victories. Wenger admitted it was far from ideal, but the Frenchman urged his side to concentrate on their own results.Leicester won again and now Im sure that everyone will take them very seriously, especially in the media, so they will be under pressure as well, he said. But we cant look too much at Leicester or Man City, we have to win football games and focus on responding quickly.Thats all you can do. Its a dream to think you can catch the others if you dont win your games and in the last three games we only took two points. At the moment, Arsenals title challenge appears to be turning into a nightmare. Against Bournemouth on Super Sunday, only a win will do.Watch Bournemouth v Arsenal live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 12.30pm on SundayAlso See:Cech predicts title twistsKoeman confronts WengerWenger laments poor finishingArsenal 0-0 Saints recapKevin Love Jersey . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. 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Tristan Thompson Jersey .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner.Assam 157 (Arun Karthik 81, Manan 4-41) and 169 for 5 (Hazarika 59, Arun Karthik 55*) beat Delhi 149 (Manan 46, Milind 45, Krishna 4-38) and 172 (Chand 44, Verma 3-42, Syed Mohammad 3-49) by five wicketsScorecard Assam continued their excellent run, having earned promotion this year, by beating table-toppers Delhi by five wickets in Guwahati. There were only 95 runs away overnight and most of those were knocked over by Arun Karthik (55*), who struck his second fifty of the match. Opener Rahul Hazarika (59) joined him, and those two were the only batsmen to reach the mark in the entire match. Delhi lost all 10 wickets for fewer than 200 in both innings, which proved their undoing. Assam have now vaulted into second place in Group A. With three wins in six games, they are on 22 points, only two behind Delhis 24.Vidarbha 247 (Sarwate 50, Tanveer ul Haq 4-60) and 199 for 2 (Badrinath 70*, Satish 61*) beat Rajasthan 216 (Puneed 67, Dobal 51, Umesh 4-45) and 226 (Menaria 76, Saxena 54, Sarwate 5-58) by eight wicketsScorecardAditya Sarwate, the 25-year old left-arm spinner, is having a fabulous debut season in the Ranji Trophy. His second first-class five-for now takes him to 25 wickets in four games and has also set up Vidarbhas third win of the season. A target of 199 became a formality with Ganesh Satish (61*) and captain S Badrinath (70*) and hitting unbeaten half-centuries.Sarwate needed only one ball on the fifth day to wrap up Rajasthans second innings on their overnight score of 226. He finished with 5 for 58, to finish with seven wickets in the match. Besides him, Umesh Yadav had taken a hat-trick in the first innings.Early wickets were necessary for Rajasthan to pose a challenge to a line-up that features three of the best professionals in the Ranji circuit. Although Wasim Jaffer did not bat, Satish and Badrinath combined for an unbeaten 127 runs for the third wicket to seal the game and consolidate Vidarbhas place at three on the Group A points table. They have 22 points from seven, same as Assam, who have played only six.Odisha 529 for 6 dec (Behera 255, Ranjit 112, Haladhar 93) drew with Haryana 216 (Saini 51, Yadav 46, Mohanty 3-51, Pradhan 3-53) and (f/o) 250 for 4 (Bishnoi 86*, Saini 64)ScorecardHaryana held on for 103 ovvers in Lahli thanks to Chaitanya Bishnois unbeaten 86 off 259 balls, but the 250 for 4 that they ended up with while following-on was still not enough to match match Odishas 529 for 6 declared.dddddddddddd Chances of an outright win were high for the visitors, especially after a Virender Sehwag-less Haryana were bowled out for 216 in the first innings in 85.5 overs. But their batting was able to show greater resolve to deny Odisha a second win of the season. Haryana themselves have not had any victories so far and both teams are stuck in the bottom half of the table.Bishnoi, the 21-year old playing his first season of Ranji Trophy, was the common thread that connected three solid partnerships. He added 86 runs in 36.5 overs with Nitin Saini (64), 75 runs with Rohit Sharma (42) in 30.5 overs, 44 runs with Sachin Rana in 18.5 overs and an unbeaten 30 runs with Priyank Tehlan in 11.5 overs to guide his team to relative safety. And clearly, Odishas bowlers could not summon the finishing blow: Dhiraj Singh, Suryakant Pradhan and Basant Mohanty bowled 73 overs for only four wickets.Bengal 528 for 8 dec (Chatterjee 147, Easwaran 65, Gani 59, Mandal, 58, Shaw 57, Goswami 51, Khurana 4-141) and 100 for 1 (Eswaran 53*) drew with Maharashtra 406 (Tripathi 132, Bawne 65, Ojha 3-71)ScorecardThe game eventually petered out into a race for the first innings lead, and Maharashtra who had come into the final day on 290 for 3 did have an opportunity to run down Bengals 528 for 9 declared, but were unable to do so. They were reliant on the overnight pair of Rahul Tripathis (132 off275 balls) and Ankit Bawne (65 off 143 balls) but once that 156-run partnership for the fourth wicket was broken, Bengal took control.Bawne was bowled by Veer Pratap Singh and the score became 313 for 4. Tripathi fell 16 runs later, then Maharashtra lost their sixth, seventh and eighth wickets for only 11 runs and finally were eventually all out for 406. Pragyan Ojha took 3 for 71. Ashok Dinda, Mukesh Kumar and Aamir Gani picked up two wickets each. Bengal then played out 33 overs with Abhimanyu Easwaran securing his second fifty of the match. ' ' '