Saints spike Arsenal big guns

Southampton 1 Arsenal 1

Theo Walcott, who scored a hat-trick and created two other goals against Newcastle, curled in the free kick that Guly Do Prado deflected into his own net two minutes after Gaston Ramirez had given Southampton the lead, but otherwise he was anonymous on his return to the club that gave him his start, as were most of the Arsenal players.

Arsene Wenger, the manager, was at a loss to explain. “We didn’t create a lot after having scored five at Reading, seven against Newcastle,” he said. “The goal chances we created were not a lot and our game lacked purpose, lacked penetration, lacked speed – all the qualities that we usually have and that we didn’t see tonight.

“It is frustrating. I felt we lacked purpose in our game and it was more mental than physical. We lacked sharpness. There is no specific reason. We prepared normally, we prepared well, and, maybe Southampton deserve some credit as well. They fought for every single ball until the last second. It is difficult to identify any specific thing.

He will not be calling on Thierry Henry for help, confirming that he has no immediate plans to re-sign the former Arsenal legend for a second successive January, even though the Frenchman has been training with the team. “For the moment, we are not on that case,” he said.

In contrast, Nigel Adkins, the Southampton manager, was delighted with a performance that could have brought a win, but was still his side’s best result against a leading side since winning promotion back to the Premier League.

“Arsenal have been beating teams out of sight but Artur [Boruc, the goalkeeper] has had nothing else to do apart from the deflection and we created some good opportunities for ourselves,” he said. “Tactically we were bang on and yet again the players put good performances in. The performance demonstrates that everyone is working hard for each other and shows how far we have come. We got a hiding [6-1] at The Emirates, but we have a growing maturity.”

Against a jittery goalkeeper in Boruc, Arsenal were bafflingly reluctant to shoot, although credit goes to a determined Southampton, who weathered an early storm of possession football to cause the Arsenal back four plenty of problems. Ramirez, a £12 million summer signing, was a particularly sharp thorn in their sides, denied a penalty when tripped by Thomas Vermaelen and denied a winner in the second half by a raised flag after he had volleyed past Wojciech Szczesny.

His goal, after 35 minutes, though, was a scrappy affair. Lukas Podolski had gifted possession to Morgan Schneiderlin, Saints’ man of the match, but the Frenchman’s attempt to find Rickie Lambert in a goal-scoring position was a poor one. It gave Bacary Sagna a chance to clear, only for the France full back to poke the ball across the penalty area, where it hit Jason Puncheon and fell into the path of Ramirez, who shot low past Szczesny.

However, Southampton had only two minutes to enjoy their lead as Do Prado sliced Walcott’s harmless-looking free kick past Boruc under almost no pressure. The Brazilian winger did his best to make amends, first with a shot that demanded a save ftrom Szczesny and then with a corner that Sagna almost put into his own goal, Szczesny grabbing the ball on the line.

The Arsenal goalkeeper, though, was lucky when he parried Schneiderlin’s low cross from the right and saw it wrong-foot the oncoming Lambert, and when Ramirez beat the offside trap to volley home, the referee’s assistant signalled that he had fouled Laurent Koscielny.

Arsenal replaced Podolski with Olivier Giroud, but it made little difference. Giroud’s pass gave Walcott the chance to shoot 18 yards out, but he put the ball straight at Boruc. If Jason Puncheon’s shot three minutes from time had found the net instead of Szczesny’s fists, Arsenal could not have complained.

SOUTHAMPTON (4-2-3-1): Boruc 5; Cork 6, Yoshida 6, Fonte 6, Shaw 7; S Davis 6, Schneiderlin 7; Puncheon 5, Ramirez 8 (Ward-Prowse 77), Do Prado 5 (De Ridder 83); Lambert 5 (Rodriguez 74).

ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Szczesny 6; Sagna 5, Koscielny 5, Vermaelen 6, Gibbs 5; Arteta 7, Wilshere 6; Oxlade-Chamberlain 5 (Gervinho 74), Cazorla 6 (Ramsey 74), Podolski 5 (Giroud 58); Walcott 5.

Referee: L Probert.