No word from Ralph Hasenhuttl, so that’s your lot. Thanks for reading this report. Nighty night!
Mikel Arteta talks to BT Sport. “We were really good right from the start. We conceded and reacted straight away. On the ball we improved a lot. We got out of trouble and created chances. Our pressing was excellent. We managed the game when we went to 3-1 and were good on the break. It was a strong performance. Pepe was really good, he deserved his chance and took it. Saka has been very consistent, we have played him in different positions but he has adapted really well. It was a really strong performance from him again today. Southampton are a really good side, and the way we understood what the game required in each moment showed a lot of intelligence. We still have a lot to do. Be humble, train good and prepare for the next game. Five players were not available to play in the cup, I want to make that clear. We expect these players to play with no pre-season, 50 games at that age, I’m sorry but it’s impossible and I’m not going to do that with young players.”
There’s post-match patter from both managers still to come. In the meantime, Ben Fisher’s report from St Mary’s has landed. You know what to do: clickity click!
The Gunners thoroughly deserved to win tonight. Bukayo Saka and Cedric were both magnificent. Here’s Saka, talking to BT Sport: “It was much better. Saturday was disappointing for us to be knocked out of the FA Cup. We took it hard. We knew their weaknesses and I thought we exploited them well, and got the victory we deserved. Everyone put in a shift and we’re so happy to get the three points here. It’s a dream to be playing for Arsenal and I just want to keep improving every game.”
That’s a third away win on the bounce for Arsenal in the Premier League. It’s the first time that’s happened since October 2018. It’s their fifth win in their last six fixtures; they’ve taken 16 of the last 18 points on offer. Saints by contrast are in the middle of a sticky patch; they’ve only won one of their last seven in the league. In the other 8.15pm kick-off, Manchester City beat West Brom 5-0.
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FULL TIME: Southampton 1-3 Arsenal
Revenge for the Gunners for their FA Cup defeat three days ago. The three points take them up to eighth in the Premier League, leapfrogging Saints, now 11th, in the process.
90 min +4: Watts curls deep from the right. Diallo wins a header, but the ball loops onto the top of the net.
90 min +3: Southampton have fought hard, even after falling two behind, but finally look to have run out of steam.
90 min +2: Pepe is finally substituted, a good 20 minutes after trudging off the first time. He’s replaced by Willock.
90 min +1: The first of five added minutes sees Willian bundled off the pitch by Valery. A garden-variety foul, nothing more.
90 min: Watts is booked for a late clank on an unhappy Elneny. For a second, the throwing of hands looks on the cards, but the ref’s quickly across to calm everything down and present the yellow.
89 min: Pepe teases Bednarek with a blood-twisting dribble down the middle. He tries to float a chip over McCarthy from the edge of the box, but it sails harmlessly over the bar.
88 min: Nlundulu holds the ball up well and sends Valery scampering down the right. Valery curls towards the near post. Holding heads behind for a corner ... then clears the set piece confidently.
86 min: Ward-Prowse curls low and hard towards the bottom left. Leno sticks out a firm palm to block. Decent effort, fine save. Saints really needed that to go in, though. Time is fast running out to get Arsenal nerves jangling.
85 min: Arsenal take an age to line up their wall. Bellerin lies behind it, draped across the turf like Jacob Rees-Mogg.
84 min: Xhaka needlessly bundles Watts over, just to the right of the Arsenal D. A free kick in Ward-Prowse Country.
83 min: Luiz lets a simple ball slip past him, allowing Adams to scamper towards the box. Holding does very well to chase him down and block his shot. The ball squirts out of the challenge, nearly teeing itself up for Adams again, but Leno comes out to smother.
82 min: Arsenal manage the clock by stroking the ball around calmly and carefully.
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80 min: Valery shovels a delicate pass in from the right, finding Nlundulu on the penalty spot. Nlundulu can’t quite get his feet sorted out, allowing Luiz to close him down. For a split second, an opportunity presented itself for the hosts to get back into this.
78 min: Partey has cramp, and is replaced by Elneny. Arsenal will be hoping it’s nothing more, with Manchester United coming to the Emirates at the weekend.
76 min: Pepe, who thought his shift was over, glides down the middle of the park in a very elegant fashion. That’s the dribble of a player finally finding some confidence in an Arsenal shirt.
74 min: A quick VAR check for offside, but there’s no reprieve for Saints, who respond to falling two behind by swapping Ings and Walcott for Nlundulu and Watts.
GOAL! Southampton 1-3 Arsenal (Lacazette 72)
From the restart, Saints are caught napping! Cedric plays a glorious diagonal ball towards Saka on the right. Saka rolls across the face of goal. Lacazette trundles it into the bottom left! A lovely goal from Arsenal’s point of view; pretty shoddy from Southampton’s.
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71 min: Farce turns to fiasco. Smith-Rowe goes down injured. He can’t continue, so Arteta changes his mind about the substitution. It’ll be Smith-Rowe for Willian instead!
70 min: Or perhaps it was Pepe’s motor. He’s substituted for Martinelli, and having taken his sweet time to trudge off, is reprimanded by Friend. A slightly farcical yellow card!
69 min: Armstrong diddles down the right and thinks he’s won a corner off Cedric. But the ball clanks back off him before it crosses the line. Goal kick. “Kevin Friend’s inconsistency is so consistent it’s almost a habit,” argues Kevin Littley. “Bellerin’s yellow was harsh at best, so many worse tackles since and not even a shake of the head or a verbal reprimand. Maybe Hector took Kevin’s parking spot.”
67 min: Saints make the first change of the evening. Redmond comes on in place of Vokins.
66 min: Ings attempts to create a facsimile copy of Ricky Villa’s famous slalom in the 1981 FA Cup final. He very nearly manages it. What a dribble! Sadly for lovers of wonder-goals, but not for Arsenal, he runs out of room. Goal kick. What a fine player Ings is.
65 min: Vokins loops in from the left. Armstrong nearly manages to bring the ball down elegantly, but loses control at the last and can’t get a shot away. Valery tries again from the right. Leno punches clear. A decent period of pressure applied by the hosts.
63 min: Cedric drives infield from a deep position on the left and passes diagonally to release Saka down the wing. Saka reaches the corner of the box and whips towards the bottom left. It’s always heading wide. Lacazette, in space in the middle, isn’t wholly pleased.
62 min: Saints push Arsenal back and probe this way and that. Arsenal hold their shape. This game is poised nicely.
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60 min: Cedric’s ball in from the left causes all manner of bother in the Saints six-yard box. The hosts eventually clear after a game of super-fast pinball. That could have gone anywhere.
59 min: Manchester City are now 5-0 up at West Brom. Fireman Sam has a drippy hose.
58 min: Ward-Prowse loops the corner in. Luiz powers a header clear. Both teams are going for this again.
57 min: Some space for Vokins down the left. He crosses deeply, and dangerously, forcing Cedric to head out for a corner with Adams lurking at the far post.
56 min: Bellerin crosses from the right. Pepe, at the near post, sticks out a leg and deflects away from Lacazette, who was steaming in behind and planning to trundle home.
55 min: A Southampton corner. It’s a non-event. But there are signs that this second half is coming to life after a slow start.
53 min: Xhaka dinks a pass down the left to release Smith-Rowe, who slips the ball past the outrushing McCarthy but there’s nobody in the centre. Stephens clears.
52 min: Smith-Rowe’s delivery is headed clear by Stephens. Xhaka competes for a loose ball with Adams and stamps on his foot. Again the referee gives a naughty player the benefit of the doubt. Free kick, nothing more. Tom Atkins and his tea-leaves (36 min) weren’t a million miles off. In a parallel universe somewhere, maybe.
51 min: Saka drops a shoulder and accelerates down the right. Vokins clips his heel and it’s a free kick to the right of the Saints box. Strangely no yellow. Kevin Friend has been in a generous mood so far this evening.
50 min: Saints suddenly pick up the pace, Armstrong powering in from the left and slipping a pass down the middle for Walcott, who whistles a rising shot straight at Leno. A hand-warmer, nothing more.
49 min: A series of throw-ins. Both teams easing themselves back nice and slowly.
47 min: Saints stroke it about the back awhile, to little effect. The second half hasn’t started with the bang of the first.
Arsenal get the second half underway. There have been no half-time changes. No change in the weather either. Storm’s still a-raging.
Half-time entertainment. Ben Fisher recently spoke to Southampton’s goalscorer. Here are the fruits of that particular pow-wow.
Meanwhile at the Hawthorns ... Manchester City are 4-0 up at half-time! Another nightmare first half for Big Sam and West Bromwich Albion, who suffered the same fate recently against Leeds. They held Marcelo Bielsa’s team to a single goal in the second half of that one; they’ll be doing extremely well to limit the damage to 5-0 tonight. With Pep Guardiola’s side bang in form, this could turn ugly. It’s probably safe to say City are going top tonight.
HALF TIME: Southampton 1-2 Arsenal
Saka takes an absurd amount of time over the corner. Pepe taps a pretend watch in irritation, and then the whistle goes. A good game, this. Don’t go anywhere!
45 min +1: Diallo dribbles a shot through to Leno from distance. Arsenal counter. Cedric and Pepe combine down the left to earn a corner. A late chance to sicken the Saints and take firm control of this game.
45 min: There will be two added minutes.
44 min: Arsenal continue to do their thing with the press. Saints could do with hearing the half-time whistle.
42 min: ... Arsenal claim for a penalty as the ball’s scooped down the inside-right channel by Partey to Lacazette, who spins Vokins but then throws himself to the ground. There’s minimal contact, and neither referee nor VAR is interested.
41 min: Saints continue to have problems playing out from the back. Bednarek is hassled by Smith-Rowe. And from the resulting throw, out on the left ...
GOAL! Southampton 1-2 Arsenal (Saka 39)
It’s a costly error. The resulting goal kick is headed down to Xhaka, who lays off to Lacazette. He slips a simple ball down the middle to release Saka. McCarthy rashly races out of his box and doesn’t get there in time. Saka rounds McCarthy on the right and rolls into an unguarded net. That simple!
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38 min: Luiz slaps a daft clearance straight at Walcott. Arsenal are in a world of trouble, with Ings and Adams both screaming to be sent clear on goal. Walcott hoicks a dreadful pass out for a goal kick. Adams fumes quietly.
36 min: Some more space for Armstrong down the left. He looks for Ings at the near post but Holding reads the danger and blooters clear. Meanwhile Tom Atkins has spent the last few minutes staring at the leaves at the bottom of his teacup. “Is it me or does this game have ‘boneheaded sending off in the 57th minute’ written all over it?” Well, Granit Xhaka is playing...
34 min: A long ball down the right releases Lacazette. He’s got options in the middle, with Saints extremely light at the back, but somehow rolls his pass to the one place that won’t release a team-mate on goal, allowing Valery to intercept with a toe-poke, the danger averted.
32 min: Partey shows up the other end, but runs up a blind alley on the left. Good luck guessing who’s going to score next as momentum ebbs and flows.
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30 min: Partey is robbed by Armstrong, 30 yards from his own goal. He does extremely well to recover and shepherd Armstrong, and then Ings, away from danger. Saints are back in the game now after a quiet period following the equaliser.
28 min: Armstrong dashes in from the left like a dandy and tries a curler across Leno, towards the bottom right. Wide, but a fine effort nonetheless.
27 min: Adams and Ings combine cutely in midfield and suddenly the Arsenal press is beaten. The ball’s sprayed wide right to Valery, who drifts in from the right and attempts to send a power curler into the top left. It’s high and wide, but not by that much.
26 min: Bednarek, Stephens and McCarthy nearly over-elaborate while playing out from the back, Lacazette and Smith-Rowe causing all sorts of bother. Saints have already been caught out a couple of times; they’ll have to watch this.
24 min: So having said that, Vokins advances down the left and crosses for Adams, who plants a header towards the bottom left. Leno does extremely well to palm away. Armstrong, attempting to latch onto the loose ball, runs it out for a goal kick.
22 min: Arsenal probe down both flanks. Saints hold their shape, but the visitors are well on top at the minute.
20 min: Bellerin crosses deep from the right. Pepe heads down with a hope of finding Lacazette on the edge of the six-yard box. McCarthy reads the danger well and claims.
19 min: Bellerin is booked for an agricultural lunge on Armstrong, who was haring down the left. Ward-Prowse curls the free kick into the box. Ings eyebrows it into the arms of Leno. This is great fun.
17 min: So with Arsenal looking the more likely to score next, Saints go up the other end and remind them of their own potency. Adams plays a glorious first-time diagonal pass towards Walcott, who tears down the inside-right channel but can’t quite sort his feet out and drags a shot wide left. He should have done much better.
16 min: Arsenal look up for this. Saka jinks down the right and curls back for Partey, who can’t find Lacazette or Pepe at the far post. Goal kick.
14 min: Cedric, coming in from the left, tries to curl a spectacular volley into the top right. He’s not that far away from scoring against his old club. McCarthy probably had it covered, but it’d have been a matter of inches either way.
13 min: Pepe, having gone from the ridiculous to the sublime, comes back. He’s got the ball at his feet and acres of grass ahead of him down the left wing. With only Stephens anywhere near, he should knock the ball past and sprint clear, but overruns the ball and allows the Saints defender to intercept.
11 min: Saints deal with the corner easily and attempt to break upfield. Diallo is cynically clipped by Lacazette, who can count himself fortunate not to go into the book.
10 min: That’s a great response by Arsenal, who come at the hosts again. Bellerin curls deep from the right. Valery is under no pressure, but turns the ball out for a corner anyway.
GOAL! Southampton 1-1 Arsenal (Pepe 8)
Pepe does better. Much better! A poor Stephens pass is snaffled by Arsenal. Xhaka delivers his second fine through ball of the first eight minutes, again down the inside-left channel. Pepe fights his way clear, strides into the box, and slots past McCarthy to level things up. What a start!
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7 min: Some space for Pepe out on the left. His cross is no good, easy meat for McCarthy. Must do better.
5 min: What a start to the game, though. Arsenal should have been ahead; now they trail. Saka bustles down the right and sees his low shot-cum-cross deflected only inches wide of the bottom right. Corner, from which nothing comes.
4 min: Shades of David Beckham and Paul Scholes, back in the day. Did they pull something like that off against Bradford City? A full-volley screamer if memory serves. Though my memory’s not what it was.
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GOAL! Southampton 1-0 Arsenal (Armstrong 3)
From the right, Ward-Prowse pulls the corner back. Armstrong, by the right of the D, meets the ball on the half volley and creams it into the top right! Leno tried his best to get something on it, but that was unstoppable.
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3 min: Saints respond with their first thrust of the evening, Valery curling in from the right, Ings attempting to steer a header goalwards. The ball twangs off Holding’s face and out for a corner. From which ...
2 min: The resulting corner comes to nothing, McCarthy claiming a Saka cross from the left.
1 min: It’s a filthy night at St Mary’s. Rain whipping around the place. And it’s nearly a filthy start for Saints, Bednarek gifting the ball to Xhaka, who slips Lacazette clear! He’s one on one with McCarthy, and aims for the bottom right, but the keeper sticks out a knee and deflects out for a corner. Arsenal should be leading after 50 seconds!
Saints get the party started ... but only after the players take a knee of solidarity, equality and love. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
Here come the teams! Saints wear their red shirts with white sash, while Arsenal are in third-choice blue. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. “Breathed a sign of relief seeing Arteta’s team sheet this evening,” writes Bill Hargreaves. “Kind of indicates he almost sacrificed the FA Cup (our dear, beloved FA Cup). Does he have his sights on the Europa League? Even top four?”
Now it’s the turn of Ralph Hasenhuttl, who has faith in his young full-backs Jan Valery (21) and Jake Vokins (20). “It is a chance for the young lads to show up. Both are motivated. The team is in good shape at the moment. Hopefully they play a brave game.”
A word with Mikel Arteta: “It’s always strange to play the same team twice in a short period. I think it’s the same feeling for both of us. It’s what the fixtures have given us, so we’ll try to do our best and win.” He also reports that the family issue keeping out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is “not resolved yet” and he will still need “a little time”.
Ralph Hasenhuttl makes three changes to the Southampton team named for the FA Cup tie between these clubs on Saturday. Ryan Bertrand is suspended, Kyle Walker-Peters is injured, and Fraser Forster drops to the bench. Taking their places: Yan Valery, Jake Vokins and Alex McCarthy.
Mikel Arteta makes five changes to the Arsenal starting XI. David Luiz, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith-Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette are in. Gabriel, Mohamed Elneny, Gabriel Martinelli, Willian and Eddie Nketiah take a seat in the dugout. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still missing for “personal family reasons” while Kieran Tierney is yet to recover from a calf injury.
The teams
Southampton: McCarthy, Valery, Bednarek, Stephens, Vokins, Armstrong, Diallo, Ward-Prowse, Walcott, Adams, Ings.
Subs: Watts, Long, Redmond, Ramsay, N’Lundulu, Forster, Ferry, Jankewitz, Chauke.
Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Luiz, Cedric, Partey, Xhaka, Pepe, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Lacazette.
Subs: Gabriel, Willian, Maitland-Niles, Chambers, Elneny, Willock, Nketiah, Ryan, Martinelli.
Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire).
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Preamble
Three days after Southampton put Arsenal out of the cup, they go again. The deposed FA Cup holders will take heart from their Premier League record against Saints, having won five and drawn four of the last ten meetings. They also have recent form on their side: they’ve won four of their last five league games, while tonight’s hosts have just one win in six. But Saints can take succour from Saturday’s result, and of course this sweet memory ...
Kick off is at 8.15pm. It’s on!
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