Five Things Learnt from Southampton/Arsenal
Saints thrash Gunners 4-0 at St Mary’s
In the late kick-off on Boxing Day, Arsenal had the chance to go top of the Premier League if they beat out-of-form Southampton.
However, it was a disastrous night down South for the Gunners at they were thrashed 4-0 by Ronald Koeman‘s men, who were registering their first win in several games.
A brace from Shane Long and goals from Martina and Jose Fonte gave the hosts all three points in emphatic fashion and prevented Arsenal from going above Leicester City in the table.
Now it’s time for SillySeason to highlight Five Things learnt from the eventful match at St Mary’s Stadium.
5) Martina From Out of Nowhere
I think it’s fair to say not many people had heard of Martina before kick-off.
The right-back was making his first start for Southampton and he registered it with an absolutely stunning finish.
The ball fell to his feet after Per Mertesacker cleared and without thinking, he unleashed a stunning strike with the outside of his boot.
With the ball travelling wide of the far post, it then suddenly curled inwards and before you knew it, it was in the back of the net past a helpless Petr Cech.
A stunning strike from someone who was unknown prior to kick-off.
4) Torrid Night for Arsenal’s Centre-Backs
So far this season Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker have been solid as a rock for Arsenal, but last night was a different story.
Mertesacker was torn apart by Shane Long and Sadio Mane due to the differences in pace, and Koscielny was completely off the game, making several silly errors and slipping all over the place.
Usually the duo are rock solid together and ever-reliable, but last night was a horror show for pair.
They will have to recover quickly in time for Bournemouth tomorrow.
3) Shane Long Was Unreal
Shane Long is a strange one.
He will struggle to make the Southampton first-team, but then get the odd chance and boy he will demonstrate what he can do.
Long was lucky to even be included last night as Graziano Pelle was ruled out through injury, but the Irishman certainly took his chance.
Two goals and a deadly display against Arsenal’s back-line, it was a night to remember for both Long and Southampton.
The striker never stopped running and was always a hassle to the Gunners.
Will this cement his first-team spot for a bit longer?
2) Arsenal Can Never Capitalise
It seems that whenever Arsenal have the opportunity to go top of the Premier League, they throw it away.
It’s happened this season a couple of times and it’s happened several times in the past, they just cannot capitalise when others fail.
Manchester City lost earlier in the season, leaving Arsenal a chance to go top, but they then lost to West Brom away from home.
Leicester lost yesterday to Liverpool, leaving Arsenal with another chance to go top, but once again they threw it away with a shocking performance.
Yes Southampton were brilliant, but massive questions marks over Arsenal’s heads as their players didn’t look remotely interested despite the chance to sit top of the league.
1) Where Has This Southampton Been?
Southampton were unreal last season, and they were unreal again last night, but where has that been all season?
Ronald Koeman’s men have been performing well below expectations so far this year, leaving them in mid-table despite their Europa League finish last year.
However, last night Southampton did prove that they can still turn it on when they want too, but that raises the question, why haven’t they played like this all season?
They ran out emphatic winners against the title-favourites (according to bookmakers), but have struggled in most other matches.
Koeman needs to keep this attitude and performance levels from his players.
So there are our Five Things learnt from Southampton’s 4-0 win over Arsenal.
What did you make of the game?
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt