Report: Arsenal 3-1 Southampton (inc. goals)

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Arsenal: Raya, Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Jorginho, Rice, Havertz, Sterling, Saka, Jesus

Subs: Neto, Lewis-Skelly, Tomiyasu, Kiwior, Merino, Nwaneri, Martinelli, Trossard, Butler-Oyedeji

Arsenal survived a second half scare to come from behind and beat Southampton 3-1 at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, thanks to goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.

Mikel Arteta made three changes to the team that beat Paris Saint-Germain midweek, with Jorginho, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus all coming into the side.

Ben White and Jurrien Timber both missed out entirely through injury meaning Thomas Partey would fill in at right back, while Takehiro Tomiyasu featured on the bench for the first time this season.

Arsenal were on top and causing chaos from the first whistle and had two early sights of goal, with Gabriel head towards goal from a corner, before Jesus saw another goalbound effort blocked after brilliant wing play from Saka.

Raheem Sterling found himself through on goal shortly after when Aaron Ramsdale gave the ball away carelessly under little pressure, but the on-loan forward couldn’t keep his balance and convert under pressure from the covering Jan Bednarek.

The Gunners didn’t stop there and were finding joy pressing Southampton into deep areas, and had two more nearly moments when Kai Havertz was played through by Jorginho – but opted to cross instead of shooting – before Saka saw another shot blocked after Partey did well to win the ball high up.

With 25 minutes on the clock, Southampton were forced into a change with Ross Stewart unable to continue through injury being replaced by Cameron Archer, in what was their first opportunity to breathe in the whole game.

However, this allowed the visitors to slow things down and re-organise themselves defensively which halted the early Arsenal momentum, with Jorginho firing another strike just wide from the edge of the area.

Sterling had another shot blocked by Bednarek before the break, but things definitely fizzled out for Arteta’s men who came flying out of the blocks, but couldn’t break the deadlock when they were on top – and Southampton settled after their first half injury.

One shot on target a-peace after 45 minutes wasn’t the game everybody expected before kick off.

Minutes into the second half, there was almost a shock lead for Southampton after Tyler Dibling breezed past Calafiori and drove into the box, before his shot deflected into the path of Mateus Fernandes whose effort looped onto the top of the bar.

Arsenal clearly didn’t take that earlier warning sign and did find themselves behind after Sterling lost the ball carelessly in midfield, allowing Fernandes to find Archer in behind who found the bottom corner despite pressure from William Saliba. 0-1.

But they were level within three minutes after Saka did well to intercept a poor pass in midfield, before finding Havertz who took the ball on and blasted a finish beyond Ramsdale and in off the post. 1-1.

It was a clinical finish from the German who became the first Arsenal player since Robin van Persie to score in seven consecutive home games.

After the equaliser, Arteta brought on Mikel Merino, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard for Jorginho, Sterling and Jesus – with Arsenal starting to push Southampton back again with waves of attacking pressure and possession.

Their pressure did eventually tell and it was another goal created by Saka, who did brilliantly to cut inside two defenders and send a teasing ball to the back post where Martinelli volleyed home unmarked. 2-1.

It was another decisive moment from the Hale End graduate and another welcome goal for Martinelli who is finding form after a difficult start to the season.

Despite their second half dominance, the Gunners were fortunate not to concede a freak equaliser when David Raya punched a corner straight onto Taylor Harwood-Bellis with the ball looping onto the crossbar again.

With the Emirates crowd becoming increasingly nervous, the game was put beyond doubt when Saka – who else – capitalised on some poor Southampton defending to fire beyond Ramsdale. 3-1.

Yukinari Sugawara did well to stop Trossard breaking initially but his heavy touch fell straight to Saka who finished with all the conviction we’ve come to expect from him.

This was far from convincing from Arsenal who struggled against weaker opposition for the second successive week, but key players stepping up and strong impacts from the substitutes bench made the difference in the end.

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