LONDON (REUTERS) - Arsenal weathered storms on and off the pitch before coasting to a 3-0 Premier League win over Southampton on Saturday (Dec 11) as boss Mikel Arteta dropped captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the match-day squad for disciplinary reasons. Before kickoff, Arteta was tight-lipped as he explained that Aubameyang's absence was due to a "disciplinary breach", with Alexandre Lacazette starting on his own up front. Southampton had the better of the opening exchanges on a rainy afternoon with Adam Armstrong forcing an early corner and a fine save from Aaron Ramsdale as the Gunners struggled to deal with the visitors' high press. They managed to break thorough it in the 21st minute with a sweeping move, attacking down the left where Bukayo Saka squared to Lacazette, who fired home. "It was a brilliant goal, played out from the back, we've been practising this movement; it's good to see that it played out well. We practise these things every day in training," playmaker Martin Odegaard told the BBC. The Gunners went two up six minutes later when Southampton's slack defending was punished by Odegaard as Kieran Tierney's attempted cross bounced back to him and he headed the ball back across the goal for the Norwegian to nod it home. The goal was Odegaard's third in three Premier League games, and his angled passes tormented the Southampton defence all afternoon. The second goal seemed to take the wind from Southampton's sails as their defensive intensity faded and Arsenal defender Gabriel thought he had scored a third goal on the hour mark, only to see it chalked off for offside. He popped up again a few minutes later and this time he made no mistake, heading home a corner to make it 3-0. More on this topic Related Story Football: Premier League top three need penalties to scrape wins Related Story Football: Ronaldo penalty gives Man United 1-0 win at Norwich Southampton's task was not helped by the withdrawal of Armstrong and strike partner Armando Broja due to injury, and they struggled to create decent attacking opportunities in the second half. The victory leaves Arsenal fifth on 26 points, while Southampton are 16th on 16 points, and Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuettl will not have much time to rally his injury-hit squad. "We have a big squad but it's getting thinner. This is something we must look at - the season is tough and now comes the intense time," he told the BBC. "We have to step up again. We play on Wednesday against Crystal Palace. We have to show a better performance." More on this topic Related Story Football: Salah condemns Gerrard's Villa to defeat on Liverpool return Related Story Football: Sterling penalty for 100th league goal gives leaders Man City win over 10-man Wolves
LIVERPOOL (AFP) - Diogo Jota struck after just 97 seconds as Liverpool closed to within one point of Premier League leaders Chelsea after a 4-0 stroll against Southampton on Saturday (Nov 27). Liverpool's long unbeaten run was ended by high-flying West Ham earlier this month but they have clicked effortlessly back into gear, scoring 10 goals without reply in three games since that defeat. Portugal forward Jota scored a first-half double at Anfield, with Thiago Alcantara adding a third to effectively end the contest against their demoralised opponents eight minutes before half-time. A goal from former Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk early in the second half underlined the dominance of the home side. Jurgen Klopp's team, who won the Premier League in 2020, have now scored 39 goals in 13 league games this season, nine more than Chelsea, who host Manchester United on Sunday. Klopp reverted to his strongest line-up for the visit of Ralph Hasenhuttl's Southampton after they beat Porto 2-0 in midweek and was rewarded with a goal within two minutes. Andy Robertson combined well with Sadio Mane down the left and got to the byline to pull back for Jota, who scored from close range. Mane had the ball in the net again after he was fouled by Jan Bednarek - the Senegalese forward headed home the resulting Robertson free-kick - but the flag went up for offside. Mohamed Salah went close but Southampton themselves had a good chance to equalise when Armando Broja failed to beat goalkeeper Alisson Becker after seizing on a careless Liverpool throw. Jota doubled his tally in the 32nd minute after Southampton were cut open down their right side. Salah collected a clever return pass from Jordan Henderson to slide a low cross to Jota, who tapped home from close range. Midfielder Thiago made it two goals in as many games with a deflected shot eight minutes before half-time to virtually seal the three points for Liverpool. The free-scoring home side picked up where they had left off after the break when Van Dijk scored against his former club, squeezing a low volley home after a corner from Trent Alexander-Arnold. Liverpool, who play Everton in the Merseyside derby in midweek, now have 28 points after 13 games following their eighth win of the season. More on this topic Related Story Football: Liverpool maintain perfect record with 2-0 win over Porto Related Story Football: Liverpool's Klopp says Rangnick's arrival 'not good news' for other teams
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND (REUTERS) - Southampton were held to a scoreless draw by ten-man West Ham United in their Premier League clash on Saturday (Sept 11) after the Londoners had striker Michail Antonio sent off in second-half stoppage time for a clumsy challenge. The first half offered little in the way of goalscoring chances as the two teams felt each other out, but the game opened up in the second half and the home side will be disappointed not to have taken all three points. Jarrod Bowen had the pick of the chances for the visitors in the 72nd minute, but his shot was tipped over the crossbar by Alex McCarthy. Two minutes later, substitute Armando Broja came off the bench and gave Southampton a shot in the arm, hitting the far post after an excellent run in the 82nd minute. Broja had another superb chance in stoppage time as he connected with a superb header, but West Ham midfielder Declan Rice cleared the ball off the line to keep his side's clean sheet intact. Antonio was shown a second yellow card for a bad challenge on Moussa Djenepo and sent off, meaning he will miss the league game against Manchester United. The draw meant West Ham slipped to fifth place in the standings on eight points, two behind leaders Manchester United. Southampton are 14th on three points and their coach Ralph Hasenhuettl told the BBC he thought they should have recorded their first victory of the season. "With a little bit more luck, we could have won it. We tried something a little bit different today, we tried to invite them to play a little bit more," he said. "What was missing was the final punch in the chances we had. Armando showed he is a very good sub. He was immediately onto the opposition and had some threats that are new to this team," he added.
SOUTHAMPTON, UNITED KINGDOM (AFP) - Leicester missed a chance to cement their grip on third place in the Premier League after a 1-1 draw against 10-man Southampton at St Mary's on Friday (April 30). Southampton had to play 80 minutes without Danish defender Jannik Vestergaard after he was sent off for a foul on Jamie Vardy. But James Ward-Prowse's second half penalty briefly put Ralph Hasenhuttl's side ahead before Jonny Evans headed Leicester's equaliser. Leicester remain in third place, but fourth placed Chelsea would close the gap to just two points if they beat struggling Fulham on Saturday. Fourth place will be reduced to a Europa League qualification spot if Chelsea win the Champions League, Arsenal win the Europa League and both clubs finish outside the top four. So Leicester need to hang onto third place to be sure of qualifying for next season's Champions League. Fourth place might still be enough for Brendan Rodgers' team, but they have only four matches left to guarantee their berth in Europe's elite club competition. In an FA Cup semi-final rematch after Leicester's 1-0 win at Wembley two weeks ago, Southampton gave a better account of themselves to end their three-game losing streak. Leicester had powered to a top-flight away record 9-0 win against Southampton on their previous visit to St Mary's in 2019. But they found it much tougher this time and should have been behind early on when Nathan Tella, unmarked eight yards from goal, shot weakly at Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel. Southampton were reduced to 10 men in the 10th minute after Vestergaard's slip left Vardy clean through on the edge of the penalty area. Vestergaard responded to his blunder with a desperate lunging tackle, but although the centre-back made contact with the ball, he clattered into Vardy's ankle in the process, earning a red card from referee Robert Jones. Despite their numerical advantage, Leicester struggled to take control and Southampton winger Nathan Redmond threatened with a long-range blast that Schmeichel palmed away. It took over half an hour for Leicester to carve out a serious chance when Kelechi Iheanacho picked out Youri Tielemans and the Belgian's low drive forced a fine save from Saints keeper Alex McCarthy at his near post. Southampton were battling impressively and they took the lead in the 61st minute thanks to a helping hand from Iheanacho. Stuart Armstrong's shot thumped into Iheanacho's out-stretched arm and Jones pointed to the spot, with Ward-Prowse smashing the penalty past Schmeichel for his ninth goal this season. James Maddison's long-range curler was tipped over by McCarthy, who made an equally good stop from Ayoze Perez's rising strike moments later. Finally hitting their stride, Leicester equalised in the 68th minute as Evans met Iheanacho's pin-point cross with a powerful header that gave McCarthy no chance. Vardy, set up by Maddison's pass, could have won it for Leicester with seven minutes left, but McCarthy made a brilliant save with his legs to repel the close-range effort.
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND (AFP) – Liverpool failed to win for the third consecutive Premier League game as Danny Ings’s second-minute goal earned Southampton a 1-0 win at St Mary’s on Monday (Jan 4). The English champions remain top of the table on goal difference over Manchester United, but have now played a game more than the Red Devils. Southampton are only four points off the top as they moved up to sixth in a tightly bunched division with just seven points separating Liverpool from West Ham in 10th. A famous win continued a fine season so far for the Saints, and a the size of the achievement was reflected in tears of joy from manager Ralph Hassenhuttl at full-time. A first league defeat in three months may hasten Liverpool’s search for a centre-back in the January transfer window. Without the injured Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, Klopp started two of his first-choice midfielders from their title-winning campaign, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, together at the heart of his defence. Southampton had not scored in their last three games to temper their hopes of a push for European football, but took just two minutes to break the deadlock in style through former Liverpool striker Ings. Liverpool did not deal with James Ward-Prowse’s angled free-kick into the box and Ings perfectly hooked his shot over Alisson Becker into the far corner. Southampton had key absentees themselves with goalkeeper Alex McCarthy missing due to a positive test for coronavirus, while Oriol Romeu, Jannik Vestergaard and Che Adams were out injured. Fraser Forster was making his first Saints appearance since May 2019, but the former England international was rarely tested to earn his clean sheet. The visitors could easily have found themselves 2-0 down before the break when Southampton substitute Nathan Tella was inches away from his first senior goal with a curling effort from the edge of the area that flew just wide. If Jurgen Klopp’s men were too passive in the first-half, they started the second-half with the intensity they have made their trademark in recent seasons as Southampton were pinned inside their own half. Sadio Mane was the visitors’ biggest threat on his return to St Mary’s as Jack Stephens made a last-ditch challenge to block his route to goal before Kyle Walker-Peters was lucky to escape without conceding a penalty for obstructing another burst from the Senegalese into the box. Thiago Alcantara was making just his second Liverpool start since a much-anticipated move from Bayern Munich, but even the Spaniard’s range of passing could not cut through Southampton’s determined defence. Mane had Liverpool’s only shot on target 15 minutes from time when his tame effort was easily held by Forster low to his left. Southampton could have sealed a huge win moments later when Alisson was caught well off his line by Yan Valery, whose shot lacked the power to beat Henderson in a race to the goal line. Liverpool so often dug themselves out of problems with late goals in romping to the title last season, but have failed to do so over the festive period, also dropping points against struggling West Brom and Newcastle. United and Manchester City now hold the upper hand in the title race as they can both move ahead of Liverpool should they win their games in hand.
LONDON (REUTERS) - Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was disappointed with his team's 1-1 home draw against Southampton on Wednesday (Dec 16), although he acknowledged it was a decent result after they had central defender Gabriel sent off on the hour. Arsenal last won a Premier League home game against bottom team Sheffield United on Oct 4 and having lost their last four at the Emirates stadium, they nearly snatched a winner when Rob Holding hit the crossbar in stoppage time. Having stretched their winless league run to six games, however, Arteta rued Gabriel's red card for a second bookable foul when he hauled down Theo Walcott, Southampton's scorer and a former Arsenal player. "Very disappointed because in that moment I was thinking to change the centre back straight away - we didn't even have time to do that," Arteta told the BBC. "In the end we got a point that considering the circumstances we have to accept. "The boys came out like we did three days ago, we scored a really good goal, on top in the game, and again we shoot ourselves in the foot." Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuettl was happy enough with a result which took his side third in the table "I am OK with a point," he said. "Teams have respect for what we are doing and how we are playing. We have shown what we have learned in the past and that is to play our game and we get more and more confident playing in possession." Walcott said he believed Southampton have become a different side. "Arsenal are in a difficult time but in the end it is disappointing to take a point and it shows how far this club has come," he said. "We were fantastic, we did everything we wanted to do in the game. We just wanted to concentrate on our strengths, we know how good we are as a unit."