Charlie Austin brought an end to Arsenal’s 22-game unbeaten run as he scored a late winner for Southampton to seal a shock 3-2 victory on Sunday.
Austin headed home the decisive goal in a thrilling Premier League encounter at St Mary’s Stadium with just five minutes left.
The Saints had went ahead twice through Danny Ings, only for Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s brace to draw Arsenal level before the hosts got the winner.
Here, we rate the Arsenal players.
STARTING XI (3-4-3)
Bernd Leno – Made a couple of routine saves before a stunning one to deny Maya Yoshida but was a spectator when Ings nodded in twice and was poor when flapping at the cross Austin scored from. 5
Stephan Lichtsteiner – Poor with his passing and didn’t stand out defensively although he was played out of position at centre-back. 4
Laurent Koscielny – Still a bit rusty and his marking left much to be desired but made some good tackles. 5
Granit Xhaka – Was focused more on distribution than defending, rarely intervening to stop Southampton. Didn’t cover for Nacho Monreal for the third. 5
Hector Bellerin – Should’ve done better to prevent the cross for the opener and limped off injured before the break. 4
Lucas Torreira – A terrier in midfield, winning possession on several occasions. Provided drive from midfield. 7
Matteo Guendouzi – Superb on the ball when afforded time and space but struggled when the Saints closed him down. 5
Nacho Monreal – Excellent run and cross for Arsenal’s first and always looked good in attack. Caught out of position for Southampton’s third. 6
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – Two goals to his name doesn’t tell the whole story. He took the first well but a fortuitous deflection saw him chalk up a second. Tidy with his passing but also guilty of some poor touches and speculative shots. 7
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – On another day he may have had two or three. He was always lurking but while his first effort was saved by Alex McCarthy, he was inches away from getting the telling touch on a couple of other occasions. 5
Alex Iwobi – Was heavily involved in Arsenal’s best attacks, including the one that led to the first goal. His final ball is still an issue though. 6
SUBS
Alexandre Lacazette (46′) – Definitely provided more of a goal threat when he came on after the break and registered an assist for Arsenal’s second. 6
Mesut Ozil (70′) – Only on for 20 minutes but created a couple of chances. 6
Ainsley Maitland-Niles (74′) – Tried to lump a couple of crosses in when introduced but wasn’t effective. 5
