Southampton vs. Arsenal: Winners and Losers from Premier League

Arsenal's Premier League title hopes took a hit following a crushing 4-0 defeat at Southampton at St. Mary's on Boxing Day.

Cuco Martina, making his first start for Southampton, opened the scoring with a wondergoal in the 19th minute. Shane Long doubled the lead in the 55th minute before Jose Fonte made it 3-0 with a 69th-minute header. Long wrapped up a memorable victory for the Saints with his second of the day in stoppage time.

Arsenal were aggrieved by refereeing decisions on two of the goals. Steven Davis appeared offside in the buildup to the opener, and Long seemed to foul Laurent Koscielny before the second. But Southampton were miles better than Arsenal, who were out-of-sorts on the day.

The Gunners had a chance to take over first place with a win but instead stayed in second place, two points behind Leicester City. Southampton stayed in 12th place but moved seven points clear of the relegation zone.

Here, Bleacher Report selects winners and losers from the match.

Loser: Arsenal's Mentality

Christopher Lee/Getty Images

At kickoff, Arsenal knew a victory at Southampton would take them to the top of the Barclays Premier League. What followed were the Gunners' worst 90 minutes of the season. That combination of facts speaks rather poorly to the championship credentials of Arsene Wenger's side.

Optimistic fans will point out, perhaps correctly, that this was only one of 38 games, and that each of the 38 count the same in the standings. Indeed, Arsenal remain just two points behind Leicester City atop the table despite this crushing loss, and they're still one point ahead of Manchester City.

But while that's all technically true, players don't play the games in a vacuum. They, like we as fans, are aware of context, and they know exactly what each result means. It would be incorrect to think that this crushing defeat will have no effect on Arsenal's psyche. 

Just five days ago, the Gunners seemed odds-on favorites for the title after beating Man City at home. Now, with a chance to take over first place, they seem farther than ever from reclaiming the trophy.

Maybe that's harsh, but in such a chaotic title race, the finest of margins might prove decisive. Saturday's ugly performance suggested Arsenal's players are incapable of dealing with the pressure.

"No wonder so many Arsenal fans driven to distraction & find it impossible to trust their team," BBC Sport's Phil McNulty tweeted. "So impressive against Man. City now this."

"Southampton very good but when the top of the table beckoned, Arsenal slunk away," added the Mail on Sunday's Oliver Holt.

"Arsenal were awful, absolutely awful," tweeted the Daily Mirror's John Cross. "You have to question whether they've got the bottle for a title race after this. Didn't look it."

For Arsenal, the one positive from this debacle is that the next game comes so quickly. On Monday, the Gunners will host Bournemouth in their second fixture of the packed holiday schedule.

Winning that one would go some way to easing fans' worries. But another poor performance could see the rails come off.

Winner: Shane Long

Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

Shane Long scored twice and tormented Arsenal's back line for 90-plus minutes. The Republic of Ireland international never seemed to stopped running, and his pace was too much to handle for Laurent Koscielny and, especially, Per Mertesacker.

Arsenal supporters will be upset that Long tripped up Koscielny—it appeared intentionally—in the buildup to Southampton's second goal, but Long will only respond that he was giving as well as he got. Certainly he bent the rules as far as they could go, and his performance made Arsenal's defense look very, very average.

"We knew we were a good enough team, but it was not happening in the last few weeks," Long said, per BBC Sport. "We went out there with the idea of fighting hard for each other firstly and hoping the play comes from there. They did not like the pace in behind from me and Sadio (Mane) and we played on that."

Winner: Sadio Mane

Christopher Lee/Getty Images

As Long mentioned in his post-match comments, Sadio Mane was another player who had a key role in Southampton's big win. The Senegal international troubled Arsenal throughout his time on the pitch with his pace and direct attacking.

His interplay with Long led to Southampton's second goal, and the two were nearly impossible to stop at their best. The Saints had lost four of five league games coming into this one, and when you see them play like this, it's difficult to understand why.

Winner: Cuco Martina

Christopher Lee/Getty Images

Cuco who?

Admit it, you'd never heard of him either. Unless you're a Southampton supporter, the name Cuco Martina probably wasn't on your radar at kickoff. But after his ridiculous strike in the 19th minute, you'll probably never forget the name.

That was when Martina—who was making his first start for Southampton—unleashed the goal of the day, a wicked, bending, outside-of-the-boot shot from long distance that curled outside the post and around Petr Cech for the opening goal. Think Roberto Carlos against France, except with the opposite foot and from an open-play situation.

If he never does anything else with Southampton, Martina has already written his name in Premier League lore with that goal.

Loser: Arsenal at Southampton

Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

Yes, this was a surprise, but maybe it shouldn't have been. Arsenal have hardly enjoyed their trips to St. Mary's in recent times, and Saturday's game was no exception.

Counting this latest defeat, Arsenal have now won just one of their last seven visits to Southampton, losing three and drawing three, as noted by Orbinho. According to Squawka, the Gunners' last away victory over the Saints came in December 2003.

"The title is down to consistency to fight in every single game and produce a performance," manager Arsene Wenger told BT Sport (h/t BBC Sport). "Today was a very physical game and we didn't play well enough."