Southampton made it five games without at win as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at home to Arsenal – Saints’ 15th league defeat of the season.
In a game which wasn’t great for the neutrals to watch, few clear cut chances were made by both sides. This suggests that the defeat was harsh on Claude Puel’s side but the reality is that other than a fantastic save from Petr Cech to deny Manolo Gabbiadini, Saints offered little attacking edge or threat.
The first half wasn’t the most entertaining half of football that you’ll ever see but the best chance fell to the feet of Gabbiadini, who was denied brilliantly by Cech. A floated ball over the top by Ryan Bertrand was poorly brought down by Dusan Tadic who was then tackled by Shkodran Mustafi. The ball fell straight at the feet of Gabbiadini who couldn’t convert.
Aaron Ramsey had a shot flash past Fraser Forster’s near post before a Nathan Redmond effort from distance which had to be tipped over by Cech brought the first half to a close.
Saints started the second half brightly like they did the first. Arsenal’s quality struck first as Saints were hit on the counter when a Mesut Ozil through ball found Alexis Sanchez who sent Jack Stephens and Maya Yoshida out of the game before calmly finishing past Forster.
Arsenal began to dominate the game further after taking the lead with Saints still posing no real threat to their goal. Claude Puel went on to make two changes in the 70th minute, bringing on Shane Long and Sofiane Boufal for Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse. Boufal had a shot fly miles high and wide of the crossbar after some excellent footwork.
Just ten minutes later Saints made their final sub when Jay Rodriguez replaced an out of form Dusan Tadic, whilst Arsenal brought on Olivier Giroud for Danny Welbeck. It took Giroud just three minutes to nail the killer blow and double Arsenal’s advantage after a cross by Sanchez was headed on to Giroud’s path by Aaron Ramsey to make it 2-0. Game over.
All in all the performance by both sides was a bit off but Arsenal’s quality showed through, whereas Saints have seen themselves fall back into a rut for the second time this season.
This result moves Arsenal up to fifth keeping their top four hopes alive. Saints, who remain tenth looking to finish as high as eighth, travel to Middlesbrough on Saturday, who have already been relegated but will want to win their final home game in the top flight.
Have your say on who you think will win the game in the poll below!
