After winning 2-0 and being clear at the top of the table by 4 points, was this 2-0 win really a comfortable win as the scoreline suggests.
Olivier Giroud scored in either half as Arsenal edged past an impressive Southampton to move four points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Saints goalkeeper Artur Boruc gifted Arsenal the opener, dwelling on a back-pass and allowing Giroud to tap in.
Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey had hit the post, while Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez went close for the visitors.
Giroud sealed the win from the penalty spot after Jose Fonte was penalised for pulling Per Mertesacker's shirt.
Full time stats:
Arsenal:
- 49% possession.
- 8 shots.
- 4 shots on target.
- 5 corners.
- 10 fouls.
Southampton:
- 51% possession.
- 10 shots.
- 4 shots on target.
- 6 corners.
- 14 fouls.
From these stats you can see it was very even but Southampton just edged the stats therefore maybe deserved to win? What is your opinion on this?
In my opinion I thought that Southampton played well but didn't have the cutting edge. Arsenal ground out the victory and deserved it with their resilience.
Match Ratings:
Szczesny - 8. Did nothing wrong today, couple of good saves, clean sheet.
Sagna - 7. Did quite well going forward and was solid at the back, clean sheet.
Koscielny - 8. Great as usual, made some great tackles, clean sheet.
Mertesacker - 8. Great again, good leader this one. Inspiring, clean sheet.
Gibbs - 7. Solid, tracked back well and injected some pace going forward.
Arteta - 5. Sloppy at times but made some vital tackles to break up the play.
Ramsey - 6. Apart from nearly scoring Ramsey played solid.
Santi - 4. Very sloppy at times and was average, maybe because of international duty?
Ozil - 5. Average/non existent, we will see the best of him in the future now that Theo is back.
Wilshere - 7. Went forward well, nearly scored, tracked back. Solid performance.
Giroud - 9. MoTM for me, great work rate, went forward, brought physical presence, won headers, tracked back. Great Performance.
Subs:
Theo - 6. Had some chances but was overall average, bearing in mind being out for nearly 2 months.
Rosicky - 7. Great, won some vital tackles and injected pace into our team.
Monreal - 6. Solid, did his job and also injected some pace into our team.
Thoughts? Would you change any of these ratings and if so, why?
Arsenal Vs Southampton Analysis/Ratings!
posted on 23/11/13
it's exactly as I expected it to be
posted on 23/11/13
We got it all right here.
posted on 23/11/13
posted on 23/11/13
Southampton are the 3rd best team in the country. Till Chelsea win. And we dismissed them. Just like we did to LIverpool.
It was a comfortable win and everyone felt like that because our defence is solid. Haven't felt like that abt our defenders since Lauren/Kolo/Campbell/Ashley.
You lot are just too critical. I would give those sort of ratings if we were playing West Ham. Not Southampton. And frankly if they keep their confidence going I could see Southampton finishing ahead of Man Utd.
posted on 23/11/13
Southamptons pressing game is probably the best in the league imo
posted on 23/11/13
Saints are class and a classy outfit. Play the game the right way. Hopefully they will gatecrash the party and end up in the top 4. Would be nice for a new team without the billions of stolen oil money to get to the top.
posted on 23/11/13
Its amazing arsenal and liverpool are the top 2 playing garbage in most of the games. I think arsenal and liverpool have had probably the least shots for in the top 10 yet you are both the joint 2nd top scorers this season with 24 goals. Man utd misfiring strikers have stopped us from being top of the league.
posted on 23/11/13
comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 48 minutes ago
Southampton are the 3rd best team in the country. Till Chelsea win. And we dismissed them. Just like we did to LIverpool.
It was a comfortable win and everyone felt like that because our defence is solid. Haven't felt like that abt our defenders since Lauren/Kolo/Campbell/Ashley.
You lot are just too critical. I would give those sort of ratings if we were playing West Ham. Not Southampton. And frankly if they keep their confidence going I could see Southampton finishing ahead of Man Utd
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^
this.
if you were at the game there was no point we weren't in control. the bbc report is so far off the mark it seems to be written by someone who wasn't at the game. the saints shots were mostly from outside the box and straight at the keeper.
the boruc mistake was caused by the closing down of giroud, something the saints were supposed to do to us.
we were in total control of the game from beginning to end and should have put more past them
posted on 23/11/13
Let the pres hate us. It makes me laugh plus no doubt it adds fuel to our lads to prove them wrong.
posted on 23/11/13
we were in total control of the game from beginning to end and should have put more past them
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This reminded me of Spurs game. For almost a year now we have not needed to 'dominate' possession to win a game. This was the change from Bayern away. Because we trust the defense we don't get worried by not having possession and in fact let teams have the ball to setup counter attack. At home as well as away. Obviously we have missed Walcott and pace over the top for the tactic and thats why Wenger wanted Theo on the bench irrespective of the fact he has had no reserve or closed door games or in fact anything more than light training in order to avoid the previous setup back in training when he was rushed back 3 weeks ago.
Sagne/Mert/Kos/Gibbs best back 4 in the country.