Arsenal 3-2 Southampton: Alex Iwobi Show Class As The Gunners Shot Down The Saints

Arsenal manages to overcome a stubborn Southampton side to win 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium, the win helped Arsenal close the gap on fifth-placed Chelsea.

The Saints took an early lead through a goal by Shane Long but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalised for Arsenal in the 28th minute before Danny Welbeck stole the show with two goals in the 38th and 81st minute to give Arsenal their fifth successive victory in all competitions.

Charlie Austin was also on the scoresheet for Southampton in the 73rd minute just before Danny Welbeck scored the winning goal for the Gunners. Here’s how each Arsenal players performed.

Arsenal Player Ratings

Petr Cech – 6/10

He didn’t have quite much to do in the match, but Petr Cech could have communicated better with Shkodran Mustafi for Shane Long’s goal.

Calum Chambers – 4/10

The former Southampton man didn’t cover himself in glory with his performance, he struggled to deal with the physicality of Shane Long and was beaten for pace by Dusan Tadic just before he set-up the equalising goal for Charlie Austin.

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Shkodran Mustafi – 4/10

The German international was caught ball watching in the build-up to Shane Long’s goal and was also caught out of position for Southampton’s second goal. Generally, it was not a great performance for Mustafi.

Hector Bellerin – 5/10

Bellerin was not as lively as he used to be down the right wing, although he put in some good tackles, he was caught in possession on several occasions. Hector Bellerin was booked by referee Andre Marriner in the 50th minute.

Sead Kolasinac – 7/10

Kolasinac was excellent at the back and all did well to support the attack when necessary.

Granit Xhaka – 8/10

Granit Xhaka was good in midfield, he shielded the defence well and also linked up with the attack excellently. It was a great display by the Swiss.

Mohamed Elneny – 8/10

Elneny had an excellent match partnering Xhaka, the only stain on his performance was the red he got late in the match.

Alex Iwobi – 8.5/10

Iwobi had a great game, he a thorn in the flesh of Southampton’s defence, got two assists and was unlucky not to be on the scoresheet himself.

Reiss Nelson – 7/10

Nelson was comfortable in possession and showed great potential for the future.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7.5/10

He scored a well taken first goal by Arsenal and had a decent game for the duration he played.

Danny Welbeck – 9/10

It was Danny Welbeck’s day, he had an assist and two great goals. He was all over the pitch helping the defence and providing an offensive threat as well.

Subs:

Jack Wilshere – 4/10

He came on for Nelson in the 64th minute, but was careless in possession and did very little to change the course of the game.

Alexandre Lacazette – 5/10

He didn’t do much in the game, he made a couple of decent runs but did not trouble the opponent’s defence.

Rob Holding – 6/10

He made a wonderful defensive block to deny Josh Sims late in the match.