Playing for 90
Fansided

Southampton 1-3 Arsenal: 3 things learned as Bukayo Saka shines

By Megan Garbutt

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 26: Cedric Soares of Arsenal in action with Yan Valery of Southampton during the Premier League match between Southampton and Arsenal at St Mary's Stadium on January 26, 2021 in Southampton, United Kingdom. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 26: Cedric Soares of Arsenal in action with Yan Valery of Southampton during the Premier League match between Southampton and Arsenal at St Mary's Stadium on January 26, 2021 in Southampton, United Kingdom. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
Arsenal
Nicolas Pepe, Arsenal (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /

2. Right Mindset = positive response

Just like with any other team, a positive mindset will always result in a better performance and a better team performance and that is exactly what Arsenal did last night.

Arsenal had the first chance of the game when Laczette was one-on-one with Saints Keeper Alex McCarthy and was unfortunate to not dink it over into the back of the net.

Both teams played very end-to-end attacking football so what came next was not a complete shock when Saints midfielder Stuart Armstrong hit a powerful half volley from a James Ward-Prowse corner past Bernd Leno and put the home side 1-0 up in five minutes.

The response from Arsenal was something that they have shown much more in recent games and helped them go on to win the game. The passion and determination they showed proved positive as five minutes later Nicolas Pepe was able to find the back of the net for the Gunners.

Arsenal were able to win the ball back from Southampton through Thomas Partey, which followed on from a beautiful through ball from Granit Xhaka into the box for Pepe who had space to finish the ball.

This was certainly the catalyst to kick-start Arsenal’s outstanding performance.

Arsenal pressed Southampton continuously for the whole 90 minutes as the Saints had a fair few shots on goal, but the pressure meant Southampton struggled to play the ball out confidently from the back a lot.

Home/Arsenal FC