This was perhaps the most thrilling game seen at St Mary's in many a year with both sides chasing a victory right to the end.

Before the game most Saints supporters would have happily have gone home without a ball being kicked if both sides had agreed to call it a draw, by the end of it Saints supporters were thrilled, but also disappointed that all three points hadn't been gained.

The first half was mainly Saints, they played a high tempo game and kept the ball for long periods and looked good for the lead at half time with a towering Jose Fonte header from a pin point Luke Shaw cross giving them the lead on 20 minutes, however as has happened too often this season they almost threw that lead away on the stroke of half time, Artur Boruc having to make a great save from point blank range as the Saints defence lacked concentration to leave Laurent Koscielny with what appeared to be an easy chance.

But after the break Saints failed to learn the lessons of that lapse and within 7 minutes of the re start were behind, for a moment it looked like there would now be only one result, however within a couple of minutes Rodriguez had found Lallana in the area and he finished well to draw Saints level.

From then on it was cut and thrust from both sides and either could have won it, Ozil hit the bar after Boruc was left stranded by a cruel deflection that looped the ball over him and Saints had their moments at the other end.

With ten minutes to go Flamini was shown a straight red and that settled the crowds nerves as Arsenal were now truly on the back foot as Saints went in search of a winner, that nearly came in the final seconds of injury time, but Jack Cork just couldnt get the ball out from under his feet to get a clean shot away.

So all in all a good point and given the injury list and recent events it proved a point to those doubters who thought that Saints season would collapse, from this point of view a result was essential, Saints needed to show their home crowd that they were still the team that had got to 9th in the first place, beating Yeovil was a start but it wasnt the Premier League, but league leaders Arsenal is as tough as it gets and this showed the team spirit is still there, if Arsenal had routed us it would have started off those that thought our success was down to only one man and without him we would be stuffed, but this performance silenced that one and for all and whilst the fury raged around, Saints have quietly just got on with putting together a nice five game undefeated run, the three games in the league have gained 5 points plus two wins in the FA Cup giving us a nice platform to go into a run of four very winnable games which could see us start to get a bit nearer to Newcastle.

The plus points on the night for me were firstly the team performance it had a spirit about it that suggested that the squad itself was stronger than before, individually it was hard to pick out names, Callum Chambers for me was perhaps one of our best players, strong at the back and quick to get forward, whisper it quietly but he had a better game than Shaw last night, but we dont want too many knowing that.

Photo: Action Images

slynch added 10:27 - Jan 29 Letting in 2 goals without Lovren was expected. But Saints showed steely nerve and skill and aggression to counter that and deserved 3 points. I've got to nip out and get some bread now. The baker's an Arsenal fan! Ha! Now, what was his prediction....?
1

IanRC added 10:30 - Jan 29 Good to see our chair lady there supporting us and apparently enjoying the game too. Adam must be a shoe in for Brazil.
0

stmichael added 10:37 - Jan 29 Can I just add (Nicks favourites so he wont say it himself) that JROD was badly at fault for the 1st goal which started Arsenals revival and missed a great chance from Adams through ball having got there before the keeper and ARTUR was very slow to react to their 2nd goal - I would have expected him to save that. HOWEVER an outstanding performance which left me proud of the whole club. On the night CHAMBERS SHAW DAVIS CORK & SCHNEIDERLIN were simply outstanding with LUKE the man of the match. ADAM was not far behind them. EVERYONE put in a shift and JROD atoned a little by setting up the equaliser. Special mention for FONTE , how apt he should score and how popular is he with his team mates as they ALL celebrated in front of the Northam?? YOSH did well as did the kid on his debut apart from his horrendous miss. 6/10 for Artur and JRod but they still contributed.

1

SaintNick added 11:25 - Jan 29 stmichael due to the great result I stuck to the positive points but why do people always have to slag off certain players to try and prove that certain other players are better, there were plenty of missed chances by Saints last night, J Rods was one of them, Im told he was at fault for the first goal, I missed it as i was coming up the stairs from the concourse. Strikers always miss chances give me a striker who keeps trying though.

0

halftimeorange added 12:41 - Jan 29 Both goals stemmed from Luke Shaw being out of position as he has been for most of our recent goals against. Shaw is looking more like a developing Gareth Bale with every match and might benefit from starting on the left wing. Perhaps Clyne could be accommodated at left back as he's not going to dislodge Chambers any time soon. Arsenal got nowhere down our right for most of last night's match. Also, Sam Gallagher was a constant nuisance to Arsenal's defence until he predictably ran out of steam.

0

thegeneral added 12:56 - Jan 29 How many times this season have we seen Lovren run across and make a superb tackle in the left back position?, plenty, perhaps we could have prepared a bit better but Lovren is of a quality that is unreplaceable. However our style of play dictates elements of risk and its far more interesting than being a Stoke fan.
1

ItchenNorth added 13:13 - Jan 29 thegeneral - I think you hit the nail on the head regards Shaw and cover from Lovren. In the system we play we expect both full backs to push forward so it inevitable that unless we have decent cover from the centre back (or a midfielder) it opens up these areas for the oppositions attackers. I don't blame Shaw if this happens, this is his role (pushing forward from full back). What I watched was Yoshida reacting too slowly on a few occasions. To this extent halftimeorange - I can't see Pochettino pushing Shaw forward anytime soon at Saints ala Bale. Its not the system he plays and he doesn't like wingers in the traditional sense. Great entertainment last night though ! Bring on Fulham !

0

schatfield added 15:38 - Jan 29 great game and stunning first half, for which the league leaders had no answer. The 2nd half did highlight our need for a quality defender when Lovren is out, Yoshida had several desperate moments in the game and looked too nervy (although he is still ahead of Hooiveld). I know we have plenty of central defenders on the books, but only Lovren is prem quality at the moment (with Fonte coming close)

0

ElSanto added 16:48 - Jan 29 Schneiderlin was MOTM. Luke Shaw is no Bale, he's a defender. He also has no right foot whatsoever. Fair play to Gallagher, he got in the right areas and will improve his finishing.
0

1teeminants added 18:50 - Jan 29 Imo Shaw was MOM and I see the echo agree with this he was outstanding.especially second half. They gave him 9 out of 10. Chambers ,Cork, Lallana and schniderlin were also immense .
0

1teeminants added 18:56 - Jan 29 Echo comment Shaw totally destroyed Sagna in a fantastic showing. Spot on.
0

webberg added 10:47 - Jan 30 I did fear that after Arsenal went in front (using a similar tactic to that used by Chelsea, i.e. being a bit more direct in order to expose gaps behind both full backs) that we would crumble. Good to get a goal back almost immediately though and even before Flamini was sent off, I thought that we were more likely winners. We do lack a bit of edge up front. The young Gallagher lad had a decent league debut but the Arsenal centre backs are very experienced and not really troubled. I don't blame him for the miss. The ball came unexpectedly and at an odd height and many more experienced strikers would have missed as well. The next few league matches are against teams below us and it would be nice to think that we can play against them as we did against Arsenal and pick up 8 or so points in February. COYR

0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Leeds United Polls