Southampton were seconds away from what would have been a hard-earned point at The Emirates, before a dubious late penalty gave Arsenal all three points.
Arsenal handed debuts to summer signings Shkodran Mustafi at the back and Lucas Perez up top as they looked to make it back-to-back victories in the Premier League.
Southampton, on the other hand, handed Jay Rodriguez a rare league start in attack, replacing Charlie Austin, while Jordy Clasie came in for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Ryan Bertrand also came in for his first appearance of the season, replacing Matt Targett at left-back.
It was the visitors who started the brighter as The Gunners struggled to get going, however, neither side created much in the way of chances in the opening stages.
Saints continued to get forward and after 18 minutes their pressured paid off. Nacho Monreal earned himself a booking for catching the menacing Nathan Redmond as the Saints attacker shaped to shoot on the edge of the box, leading to a free-kick. It was Dusan Tadic who stood over the resulting free-kick. Petr Cech managed to fingertip the ball onto the bar, only for it to ricochet off the Czech ‘keeper’s back and bobble into an empty net.
The home fans were beginning to become restless, as is often the case when the luck seems to be against their side, with Santi Cazorla going into the book after he didn’t take kindly to a free-kick awarded in Southampton’s favour.
Arsenal began to probe their visitors without landing any significant blows, until they won themselves a corner after Virgil van Dijk diverted Nacho Monreal’s miscued shot over his own bar. Santi Cazorla floated the ball in and it eventually fell to Laurent Koscielny, who produced a stunning overhead kick to level the scores.
The goal seemed to inspire the hosts as they started to get their tails up and looked much more comfortable on the ball. A lovely turn from former Saints man Theo Walcott allowed Hector Bellerin a run down the right, his cross found its way through to Mesut Ozil who smashed the ball goalwards, only for Jordy Clasie to intervene with a marvellous block.
As the teams came out for the second half, Claude Puel made the first change of the afternoon, bringing on Shane Long for Jay Rodriguez. Gunners fans will be sick of the sight of the Irishman, after his two goals helped Southampton cruise to a 4-0 when the two sides met on Boxing Day of last season.
It was Arsene Wenger’s side who started the second half on the front foot, with Bellerin continuing to cause problems down the right and it was the Spaniard with the first real chance of the half. After some slick passing from Arsenal got them to the edge of the Southampton box, the ball fell to Bellerin. His fierce angled shot flew a yard wide of Fraser Forster’s post.
Just after the hour mark, Saints had the best chance of the half at either end. The creative Dusan Tadic flicked a lovely backheel into the path of substitute Shane Long, who wasted a glorious one-on-one with Petr Cech as he dinked the ball six yards or so wide of the target.
Both sides continued to create numerous chances as they searched for a seemingly elusive second goal. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s long range effort was beaten away by Petr Cech, before Shane Long’s tame follow up was saved again by Cech.
Up the other end, substitute Olivier Giroud headed into the side netting from Santi Cazorla’s excellent cross.
However, as the game entered stoppage time, drama ensued. After goalscorer Laurent Koscielny lay clutching his head in the six-yead box after he was caught by Ryan Bertrand’s boot, Arsenal played on and Shkodran Mustafi chipped the ball back into the Saints box and referee Bobby Madley harshly ruled that Jose Fonte was tugging on Olivier Giroud’s shirt and pointed to the spot. Santi Cazorla then stepped up and blasted the ball down the middle to win the game for the hosts.
So 2-1 it finished, which was very cruel on Southampton who would feel as though they played well enough to have earned at least a point against a side they have faired well against of late.
Next up for Saints is the visit of Sparta Prague in the first round of Europa League group games, as they look to secure their first win of the Season in their first European game since losing 1-0 at FC Midtjylland last August.
