Arsenal 3

  • K. Havertz 58'
  • Gabriel Martinelli 68'
  • B. Saka 88'

Southampton 1

  • C. Archer 55'

Officials


  • Referee: Tony Harrington
  • Assistants: Darren Cann, Derek Eaton
  • Fourth official: Josh Smith
  • VAR: Michael Salisbury
  • Assistant VAR: Ian Hussin

Premier League
Emirates Stadium - 3pm
Attendance: 60,307


    Intro

    Intro & Team News

    IBO Reporter: channonite

    Embed from Getty Images

    Onuachu's late appearance as substitute showed that we may well have all underestimated his skills, showing great control of the ball at his feet. Could we now see more of him?


    Intro


    |The most I hoped for this game was that the team would show a little more character and backbone than they had at Bournemouth. That’s not a lot to ask, I would have thought.

    Arsenal are a funny team; I used to hate them back in the 1-0 to the Arse days, but either they have metamorphosed into a vibrant team that is exciting to watch, or I have become more tolerant with age. Probably a little of both. Anyway, I quite like them these days, or perhaps more accurately, I have nothing against them, unlike Spurs, who I really do detest.

    Saints do seem to struggle against Arsenal, with only the occasional result to lighten the mood. As we are struggling anyway this season, why would this game be any different?!

    As usual, we seem to be struggling to find any fit strikers, and those we do have seem to be woefully out of form. That might be the least of Saints’ problems this weekend; keeping them out of our goal is probably the priority. Ramsdale has been a considerable improvement in goal, but we are still leaking goals like a sieve as the new players struggle to come to terms with Russel Martin’s game plan.

    So, in short, I am not expecting much, but I would be over the moon if we came away with a draw.



    Team News


    |I have given up trying to second-guess Martin’s team selections, but this one perplexed me. He seemed to have gone for a back-five with Sugawara and Manning (FFS!) as the full-backs and Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek and KWP(!!) as the three central defenders.

    Downes and Aribo would be the overworked midfielders, Fernandes and Dibling out wide, and Stewart alone up front.

    Well, that seemed to be the initial plan. The outfield players lurking on the bench were Archer, Adam Armstrong, Bree, Brereton Díaz, Lallana, Onuachu, Taylor and Ugochukwu. In these days of five subs, it was obvious we would see several appear later.


    Match Report


    Match Report


    Embed from Getty Images

    Cameron Archer scored his first Premier League goal for Saints and the games first goal


    Report

    IBO Reporter: channonite

    |It seemed my worst fears were about to be confirmed, as from the start, Arsenal seemed to be camped in and around the Saint’s penalty area. There was an air of desperation in the early few minutes, but to my surprise, Saints didn’t buckle but dug deep to weather the storm.

    Soon, they were making the odd venture into the home team’s half, and Kyle Walker-Peters actually had a shot at goal on target, which Raya easily saved.

    It was going reasonably well, with Saints having as much as 33% possession, but I must say that it didn’t seem like that much. Then Bednarek kicked the ball out of play, as Stewart had abruptly sat down on the pitch after a collision with Declan Rice, putting his head in his hands. The trainer came on, and you could see the Scot putting his hand on his right thigh to indicate where the problem was. Bearing in mind his injury record, it didn’t look good. He went off to be replaced by Cameron Archer.

    The first half ticked away, with Arsenal seemingly unable to land a blow on Saints. The nearest they came was a shot from a distance by Jorginho, which flashed harmlessly past the post.

    That was until just before the break, Walker-Peters seemed to back away, allowing Partey to shoot, which was on target but parried by Ramsdale. Quick as a flash, Sterling followed up, but Bednarek did just enough to put him off, and it went behind, off the Arsenal number 30, for a goal kick.

    We reached halftime with the score at 0-0, which was unexpected, but Saints had played really well in denying the Londoners the lead. The downside was that we no longer had Stewart’s physical presence, and it looks like we will be without him for another extended period.

    The second half started with Arsenal piling on the pressure again, but Saints looked to have a bit more ambition about them now.

    Once again, Dibling led the way with one mazy run, turning the Arsenal defence inside out and crossing for the onrushing Fernandes. Unfortunately, the young Portuguese could only prod it over the bar, as he had several Arsenal defenders in close attendance. Promising though.

    And then the unbelievable happened. Sugawara and Aribo were trying to play out from defence but lost possession to Sterling, only for Fernandes coming back at a rate of knots to dispossess the Arsenal man. He turned, looking upfield and sent a pinpoint crossfield pass right to the head of Cameron Archer. He headed it on and ran at the defenders, turning, moving it from his left to his right and drove the ball into the far corner of the net, beyond the beaten Raya. GOAL! 0-1 Saints. I mean, what the actual feck had just happened??

    But, and there often is with Saints, we didn’t have long to enjoy the feeling. Downes, who had not been having the best of afternoons, was robbed by Saka and in a flash, it went from him to Havertz, who strode forward and, despite being surrounded by four yellow shirts, sent a powerful drive across the goal, beyond the helpless Ramsdale into the back of the net. Bugger, bugger. 1-1, and only three minutes after Saints scored the opener.

    Arsenal now stepped up several gears, and they seemed to be queuing up to take potshots at Ramsdale. Firstly, Partey had a shot that looked on target but deflected behind for a corner, but fortunately, it came to nothing.

    Arteta then decided that changes were needed, taking off Sterling, Jorginho and Gabriel Jesus and replacing them with Martinelli, Merino and Trossard.

    It paid an almost immediate dividend when Saints were once again under pressure, and Saka played a beautiful pass to Martinelli, all alone at the far post, to tap home. 2-1. Booo. Oh! VAR, Merino, standing no more than a couple of yards in front of Ramsdale, appeared to be offside as Saka struck the ball. After review, Michael Salisbury decided Merino was not interfering with play, and the goal stood. WTF?! He was standing almost within touching distance of Ramsdale, right in front of the goal! If that isn’t interfering with play, what on earth was the Arsenal player even doing on the pitch??

    There were a lot of tired legs out there, and Martin decided to substitute Manning and Fernandes for Onuachu and Adam Armstrong. Which was slightly unexpected as Sugawara, in particular, looked absolutely exhausted.

    Dibling then made another of his deceptively aimless runs but somehow evaded all attempts to tackle him. Unfortunately, when he shot, it was deflected just wide of the left-hand post for a corner. The corner was superb, right into the area where Saints players were. Raya got a hand to the ball but only pushed it away - onto Harwood-Bellis’s shoulder and/or Armstrong’s head. I doubt even the players knew what happened. From there, it hit the crossbar and bounced up, with Raya claiming it on the second attempt. Very, very close.

    Then, to add insult to injury, Arsenal broke forward, and a long ball forward ended with Havertz lying on the floor and poking it forward to Trossard, who set off towards the goal. Aribo managed to dispossess him, but Sugawara then sent a very tired pass right into Saka’s path, who said thanks very much and coolly slotted it past Ramsdale into the far corner. 3-1 Barstewards. Football can be so cruel.

    And that was that, but although the scoreline was the same as at Bournemouth, the performance was very different indeed. With just a bit of luck, they might have got a result here, but that is all part of the learning process, and Saints have to learn quickly and move on.



    Man of the Match


    |There were several good performances here; once again, Dibling kept catching the eye, and even the much-maligned Paul Onuachu looked like he could actually play football and pose an attacking threat. Still, for me, it was the young Portuguese Mateus Fernandes who, until he tired, looked very much at home against the slick machine that is Arsenal and is deservedly my Man of the Match.

    Teams/Stats


    Teams



    Arsenal


    • 22, David Raya
    • 33, R. Calafiori,(Kiwior 90’)
    • 6, Gabriel Magalhães
    • 2, W. Saliba
    • 5, T. Partey, (T. Tomiyasu 84’)
    • 30, R. Sterling, (Gabriel Martinelli 60’)
    • 41, D. Rice
    • 20, Jorginho (c), (Mikel Merino 61’)
    • 7, B. Saka
    • 9, Gabriel Jesus, (L. Trossard 60’)
    • 29, K. Havertz

    Substitutes

    • 37, N. Butler-Oyedeji
    • 15, J. Kiwior
    • 49, M. Lewis-Skelly
    • 11, Gabriel Martinelli
    • 23, Mikel Merino
    • 32, Neto
    • 53, E. Nwaneri
    • 18, T. Tomiyasu
    • 19, L. Trossard

    Southampton


    • *30, A. Ramsdale
    • 2, K. Walker-Peters, Yellow Card 23’
    • 35, J. Bednarek, Yellow Card 34’
    • 6, T. Harwood-Bellis
    • 3, R. Manning, (P. Onuachu 74’)
    • 16, Y. Sugawara, (C. Taylor 90’)
    • 18, Mateus Fernandes, (A. Armstrong 74’)
    • 4, F. Downes (c)
    • 7, J. Aribo
    • 33, T. Dibling, Yellow Card 38’
    • 11, R. Stewart, (C. Archer 27’)

    Substitutes

    • 19, C. Archer
    • 9, A. Armstrong
    • 14, J. Bree
    • 17, B. Brereton
    • 10, A. Lallana
    • 1, A. McCarthy
    • 32, P. Onuachu
    • 21, C. Taylor
    • 26, L. Ugochukwu

    Match Stats


    • Overall Possession:
      • Arsenal 59.1% - Southampton 40.9%
    • Shots:
      • Arsenal 29 - Southampton 8
    • Shots on target:
      • Arsenal 6 - Southampton 2
    • Shots off target:
      • Arsenal 13 - Southampton 1
    • **Blocked shots:
      • Arsenal 10 - Southampton 5
    • Total touches in the box:
      • Arsenal 60 - Southampton 8
    • Goalkeeper saves:
      • Arsenal 1 - Southampton 3
    • Aerial duels won:
      • Arsenal 9 - Southampton 14
    • Fouls:
      • Arsenal 10 - Southampton 9
    • Corners:
      • Arsenal 13 - Southampton 1
    Embed from Getty Images

    Aaron Ramsdale had a good reception on his return to the Emirates for the first time since he left for Saints

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