Welbeck double sinks unlucky Saints

- Sluggish start -

Arsenal started the game without any urgency, and Southampton deservedly took the lead in the 19th minute through Shane Long, after some woeful defending from Shkodran Mustafi. Dusan Tadic held it up down the left, before laying off for Cedric Soares, who managed to sneak a cross in. Long got ahead of a ball-watching Mustafi to put it past Petr Cech, opening the scoring in a far-from-full Emirates stadium.

- Wake up call -

This opener caused the home side to switch on about half-way through the first period though, and they proceeded to turn the game around quickly. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired back for Arsenal in the 29th minute, in their first real chance of the game. A nice flick from Danny Welbeck put the Gabon international through, and he poked it past Alex McCarthy to level.

Ten minutes later it was Welbeck’s turn to get his name on the scoresheet, when he put Arsenal ahead in the 38th minute. The English striker got on the end of a through ball from Alex Iwobi, and drove forward before shooting. His strike took a deflection off Maya Yoshida, before soaring past McCarthy to perk the home fans up.

- Super sub - 

The visitors continued to fight in the second half, and were able to level in the 73rd minute through Charlie Austin, who had only just been subbed onto the pitch one minute earlier. The goal was created by Cedric Soares, who took it past two men in the box before squaring. Austin was the man on the end of it, turning the ball past Cech to put the score level at 2-2. 

- Redemption - 

Danny Welbeck caused a huge collective groan just five minutes later, when he somehow managed to sky a Jack Wilshere cutback over the bar from just yards out. However, the forward redeemed himself minutes later, scoring a back post header from another Alex Iwobi delivery to restore his side's lead with less than ten minutes of ordinary time to play. 

- Bizarre finale -

Southampton tried desperately to find an equaliser in the last period of the game, but were unable to make the breakthrough. The tie ended in bizarre fashion, when a tussle between Jack Stephens and Jack Wilshere saw the former shown a red card, in a very harsh call from the referee. Then, while the Saints players were still complaining, Mohamed Elneny was also sent off for a push on Cedric Soares, in another questionable refereeing decision. 

- Tough pill -

Mark Hughes will be gutted to return home with no points, as Southampton showed a lot of fight throughout, and were the better team for large periods of the game. This was their third Premier League loss in a row, and they will now have to put up a fierce fight if they are to avoid relegation. 

Arsene Wenger's side weren't at their best, but showed their quality when it counted, and have now won six games on the bounce in all competitions, continuing their revival in form.

 

8 April 2018