After a stuttering to start to their Premier League campaign, the Gunners looked to make up some ground on the early front-runners. Southampton notoriously make it difficult for Wenger’s men, with their deep defensive line and outstanding temperament; and today was no different.
Arsenal were slow out of the blocks, as Southampton dominated the early stages, testing the untried pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi with their attacks. Puel’s men took the lead, deservedly so, with a fine effort from Dusan Tadic who saw his free-kick bounce, via the bar, off the unfortunate Petr Cech. Arsenal then wriggled off their international break weariness culminating in them finding the equaliser in the form of a stunning bicycle kick from the captain Laurent Koscielny.
The second-half was a different kettle of fish. The game became incredibly stretched, that naturally played more into the Gunners’ hands. As the game looked to be fizzling out, Olivier Giroud was hauled down by Jose Fonte and was awarded a penalty. Nerves were jangling, not helped by the 3 minute delay due to Koscielny’s head injury. Arsenal’s little Spaniard was up to the test however, and Santi Cazorla coolly slotted home the winner.
With that said, let’s take a look at the ‘Five Things We Learned’ from todays game:
