Arsenal vs. Southampton: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
A late goal from Alexis Sanchez saw Arsenal grab all three points against a spirited Southampton side on Wednesday evening, in a game that only really sparked into life in the second half.
Sanchez tapped home from close range following good work from Aaron Ramsey to give Arsene Wenger's side an important victory and condemn the Saints to their second successive defeat against one of the supposed "top four" sides.
Fraser Forster's heroics in goal had looked like saving Ronald Koeman's team a point, but they were to be frustrated in the end—a disappointment compounded by the fact Toby Alderweireld's injury meant the visitors played the final 10 minutes with 10 men.
Click on for some winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Arsene Wenger
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One game after a banner was unveiled by Arsenal fans demanding that he leave the club, and barely 24 hours after effectively promising he would win the Premier League title inside the next three years, Arsene Wenger saw his side escape with a hard-fought and much-needed win against one of his emerging rivals.
It could prove a key win for him and his team this season, although only time will tell on that count.
Arsenal are now up to sixth in the fledgling Premier League table, although they remain two points behind Manchester United in that all-important fourth place. Nevertheless, with an important psychological blow struck against the Saints (still third), finishing in the top four seems less of a challenge than it did less than a week ago.
Afterwards, Wenger told reporters, via the club's website:
"It was difficult for us to keep going from the start of the game because we’ve given a lot against Dortmund and on Saturday—today was the third game in seven days. You could see that we had to dig deep.
We played against a good team who are very well organised and play very quick on the counter-attack. For us it was important not to be exposed on the counter-attack and to keep a clean sheet.
We had to be patient and wait for our chances and you could see in the last 20 minutes that they started to suffer a little bit physically and that we created openings.
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Arsenal are still 13 points behind league leaders Chelsea, of course, so that title pledge might carry over until next season at the very least. Still, Arsenal can at least start looking up again now—especially if they add another win at the Britannia Stadium against Stoke City this weekend.
Winner: Fraser Forster
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If there was one player on the pitch on Wednesday who did not deserve to end up on the losing side, it was Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster. The England international may have been poor in Sunday's defeat to Manchester City but in this game he was scintillating, making a number of brilliant saves to keep Arsenal at bay.
In the first half, he reacted quickly to turn over Danny Welbeck's deflected header, and he denied Welbeck again with a brilliant diving effort midway through the second half. Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez were both kept out by the ex-Celtic man—before Forster was left helpless as Sanchez finally broke the deadlock in the closing stages.
Forster did everything he could for his team, but it wasn't quite enough. Nevertheless, it was an individual performance to take a lot of heart from—he was quite clearly the outstanding player on the pitch.
Loser: Southampton's Squad Depth
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On Sunday, an injury to Morgan Schneiderlin forced Ronald Koeman to bring on Maya Yoshida and move Toby Alderweireld, a defender by trade, into a midfield role. It was an example of Southampton's lack of squad depth—with James Ward-Prowse a long-term absentee and Harrison Reed apparently not considered ready for such games, Koeman really does not have too much flexibility in a key area.
On Wednesday, that was further underlined, as another injury, this time to Jack Cork, saw Yoshida introduced off the bench once again, with Alderweireld pushed forward for the second time in as many games. The Belgian himself would be injured towards the end of the game; by that time Southampton had used all their substitutes, leaving them to battle the final 10 minutes with only 10 men.
That would play a role in their subsequent downfall, a desperate disappointment, but for Koeman there will be longer-term issues to contend with. If Schneiderlin's injury is serious and both Alderweireld and Cork are also added to the injury list, then only he knows how he will reshuffle things for the game against Manchester United this weekend.
Defeats against rivals will hurt in Southampton's campaign for European football. The comparative lack of squad depth might be the bigger issue, however.
Winner: Olivier Giroud
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He only came on midway through the second half, but Olivier Giroud made a tangible impact on this game, perhaps offering a timely reminder why his short-term future at Arsenal perhaps remains in the starting lineup.
Arsene Wenger said before the game that Giroud was named on the substitutes' bench as he needed to be managed carefully, having only recently returned (ahead of schedule) from a serious injury. That is a sensible approach, but this nevertheless felt like a game made for his presence—with Welbeck, Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain leading the line, after a while Southampton seemed relatively comfortable dealing with their pace and movement.
Once Giroud came on, however, that dynamic changed—Saints suddenly being bullied in the air as Giroud dragged the defence into positions they did not want to be. He nearly opened the scoring moments after coming on and proceeded to create a couple of great chances for Welbeck and Ramsey, as Arsenal suddenly looked much more dangerous than they had managed while the Frenchman was on the bench.
He had a small role in the winner (his touch inadvertently feeding the ball to Ramsey for the assist), but that was beside the point. Since Welbeck's arrival, the consensus seems to be that Giroud will be the man to make way over time, forced to settle for a place on the bench or starts only in lesser games.
This game put that idea in a different light. Arsenal looked many times more threatening and unpredictable with Giroud leading the line; once he returns to full fitness, that would seem to be a better role for him and the team than leaving him on the bench to employ only as an impact substitute.
Loser: Ronald Koeman
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Two games against two of the biggest sides in England, two defeats in succession for Southampton. A third game against Manchester United now follows at the weekend—if they want to avoid a third such loss, Ronald Koeman faces a sizable job to pick his side up.
Against Manchester City they were naive, against Arsenal they were unlucky and, ultimately, just not quite good enough. Now they have a problem with injuries and confidence; this might just be the first mini-crisis of Koeman's Saints reign.
The task now for Koeman is to rebuild his side's faith in what they are doing—particularly in attack—and convince them they are capable of beating Manchester United (a side who are also going through their own injury crisis). It won't be easy, but, if Southampton are realistic about pursuing Champions League qualification this season, it is a task the Dutch coach will surely need to succeed with.
Afterwards Koeman said (per the Express):
"We had a good positive reaction after last Sunday, a good first half, good ball possession, a good chance off [Graziano] Pelle.
After an hour it was more difficult, Arsenal were pressing more but the difference was 11 v 10. We were unlucky to get a player injured after making all of our substitutions, you know they will create chances and in the last few minutes they made it 1-0. Forster had a very good game today.
We knew it would be difficult but the performance today is better than Sunday. We know we don't have the numbers of players that Arsenal and Manchester United have.
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