Southampton 2 – 1 Arsenal – Match Report

We exited the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage as we lost 2-1 to Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium.

Scottish forward Ross Stewart opened the scoring on 34 minutes before Viktor Gyokeres equalised midway through the second half.

But the hosts would have the winning moment with five minutes to play as substitute Shea Charles placed into the bottom corner to send the Saints to Wembley.

FRANTIC START

Southampton came into the contest off the back of a 14-game unbeaten run and made a bright start, with Gabriel having to tackle well to stop Tom Fellows driving through.

The Saints’ faithful thought they had a penalty when Leo Scienza took on Gabriel and went down in the box, but referee Sam Barrott waived play on.

The fast pace continued with openings at both ends. Fellows enjoyed space down the right for Southampton, but met a rock-solid Gabriel in his way once again.

Down the other end, a beautiful ball over the top from the returning Martin Odegaard found Gabriel Martinelli, but the Brazilian’s shot was blocked. Our winger thought his effort from the resulting corner was heading for the top corner, but for Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ fine intervention.

It was the wingers who continued to cause problems for our defence, with Scienza running through on goal after Gabriel’s header inadvertently sent the forward one on one – but his touch was heavy, and Christian Mosquera recovered well to clear the danger.

SAINTS LEAD

We started to dominate the ball and chances followed. Odegaard was starting his first game since February 12 and went close on two occasions. His first effort came from a well-worked corner, which saw the Norwegian blast an effort at goal, which was well saved by Daniel Peretz.

His second attempt came just inside the box after good work from Martinelli down the left, but our skipper couldn’t make the right connection and his shot drifted just wide.

As we pinned the hosts back, Kai Havertz was the next to have a go from range as his deflected shot landed just wide.

But the Saints were able to break free and opened the scoring in the process. Full-back James Bree drove forward and clipped the ball into the box, evading the head of Ben White, and into the path of Stewart to lash beyond Kepa.

We looked to respond as we built up from the back, Christian Norgaard shooting straight at Peretz just before the interval as Saints sensed an upset.

SUBS MAKE IMPACT

A place in the semi-finals for the first time in six years was on the line, and we almost levelled through Max Dowman, but for the last-ditch block from Ryan Manning.

The hosts could’ve had a second on the hour mark as Fellows fired over after receiving the ball from Mosquera. Saints came even closer just moments later as Scienza cut inside and unleashed a superb curling effort that hit the bar and bounced over.

Mikel looked for impact off the bench with Riccardo Calafiori, Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke, and we found our leveller.

An inch-perfect pass from Gabriel slipped through Havertz, who was able to square it back to the Swedish forward to slot home the equaliser with 22 minutes to go.

CHARLES WINS IT

We looked for a winner with 10 minutes remaining as Dowman forced Peretz into a wonderful save before Martinelli fired wide after a well-worked corner.

But a minute later, Southampton had their winner through a substitute. The Saints worked the ball well down the right and forced it through to Charles who showed composure to slot into the bottom corner.

We tried to force a late leveller but couldn’t get past Peretz in the Southampton net as we fell to our second defeat in a row.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Our Champions League campaign resumes on Tuesday, April 7, with a trip to Lisbon to take on Sporting CP in the quarter-final first leg. It’s then a return to Premier League action at Emirates Stadium, when we host Bournemouth on Saturday, April 11.