A self-destructive streak has been a theme of Arsenal’s June games. This time they could savour the sense that they were not the ones making avoidable or embarrassing errors. Victory came gift-wrapped, but to Arsenal, with Alex McCarthy’s horrible blunder allowing Eddie Nketiah to score. Jack Stephens’ red card then led to Joe Willock’s maiden top-flight strike as Mikel Arteta’s team belatedly chalked up their first points of the summer.
It is an indication of how badly their month had gone that a team who had harboured hopes of Champions League qualification kicked off Wednesday in the bottom half with their lowest points tally after 30 matches for 25 years. They at least finished in the dizzy heights of ninth after a victory that, freakish as their breakthrough was, was deserved. Arsenal showed more intent from the start, had incision on their left flank, hit the woodwork and kept a clean sheet minus the injured Bernd Leno. His deputy, Emi Martinez, made a fine save from Shane Long and this felt the kind of result Arsenal got in their encouraging winter. For Arteta, the sight of two youngsters on the scoresheet felt fitting, given the trust he has put in them.
For Southampton, it was a depressingly familiar outcome. They need one more win to reach the symbolic 40 points and it may have to come on the road. As they have the division’s worst home record, the absence of fans could scarcely be said to have hindered them, but they lost at St Mary’s again, with defeat compounded by Stephens’ late dismissal when the last defender brought down the electric Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. From the resulting free kick, Lacazette had a shot saved and Willock followed up to get a maiden Premier League goal.
Southampton proved their own worst enemies but Nketiah’s goal was nevertheless the reward for Arsenal’s early efforts. Nicolas Pepe had a strike chalked off when his supplier, Bukayo Saka, was offside. Southampton had another reprieve when Aubameyang raced on to Kieran Tierney’s long pass and unleashed a shot that rebounded back off the underside of the bar. McCarthy got the slightest of touches; it amounted to a brilliant save but he soon undid that fine work.
It was ludicrously bad goalkeeping. McCarthy had an easier option but instead telegraphed a pass to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Nketiah found it easy to block it, sprint past the culprit and slot the ball into the empty net. It was his fourth goal of Arteta’s brief reign, with the striker rewarded for his willingness to press.
Arsenal almost induced another costly mistake. A stretching Jan Bednarek diverted Aubameyang’s cross just past the near post. It was further proof that Arsenal excelled on their left flank, with the combination of Tierney, Saka and Aubameyang causing Southampton problems. Once again, Saka demonstrated his adaptability, even if he may have been fortunate to only receive a yellow card for a reckless challenge on Kyle Walker-Peters.
Arteta had changed shape to 3-4-3, giving Saka a third position in as many games. Tactically, the manager showed his prowess and when Southampton were in the ascendant in the second half, the Arsenal manager shored up his midfield with a move to 3-5-2. Willock was the extra midfielder, a decision that was soon justified.
There were notable absentees from that midfield. Matteo Guendouzi was not even on the bench, with Arteta attributing it to “squad management”, though it seemed, five days after his clash with Brighton’s Neal Maupay, more a case of disciplinary issues. For the third successive match, Mesut Ozil did not take the field. Alexandre Lacazette, meanwhile, has lost his place in the pecking order to Nketiah and had used an umbrella as a parasol as he lounged in the stands for much of the match.
Southampton were muted before Ralph Hasenhuttl’s half-time double change. It brought improvement, with Walker-Peters an upgrade on Yan Valery at right-back, but Southampton lacked a finish. Their three scorers against Norwich on Friday all had opportunities. Danny Ings hooked a volley over the bar, Stuart Armstrong arrowed an effort into the empty stands and Nathan Redmond rifled an attempt past the diving Martinez but into the side-netting. Only the substitute Long really tested him, though, and Martinez passed the examination. So, this time, did Arsenal.
