As Alexis Sánchez stabbed home from Aaron Ramsey’s driven cross, a collective sigh of relief reverberated about the Emirates. The Arsenal faithful, frustrated by 80-odd minutes of drab football, finally had something to cheer about as the Chilean’s late goal secured a third consecutive victory for the Gunners in all competitions. This result leaves Arsenal in sixth position, two points off Manchester United in fourth.

Pre-match

Arsène Wenger opted to play, more or less, a 4-2-3-1 with Giroud on the bench. Instead, Danny Welbeck played lead the line whilst the red-hot Sánchez would rotate with Cazorla and Oxlade-Chamberlain in the attacking-midfield roles. Throughout the game, he was also given liberty to swap positions with Welbeck. Koscielny partnered Mertesacker in defence, while Monreal was given the go-ahead to start against the Saints. Young goalkeeper Damián “Emi” Martínez kept goal for the third match running, in the absence of Wojciech Szczęsny and David Ospina.

Following the 0-3 loss to 10-man Manchester City over the weekend, and the loss of Morgan Schneiderlin to injury, Koeman persisted with the 4-3-3 formation he’d employed against City. Nonetheless, two changes were made – firstly, Shane Long replaced Saido Mané while Jack Cork deputized for Schneiderlin. Tadić and Long provided support for Italian forward Graziano Pellè; while the two full-backs, in Ryan Bertrand and Nathaniel Clyne, were expected to bomb up and down the flanks to support the Saints’ attack.

First Half

Though the Saints had just been on the business end of a crushing 0-3 defeat to the Citizens, they enjoyed a livelier start, and had arguably seized control of proceedings in the first fifteen minutes or so. When in possession, Southampton played a 2-4-1-3 with Clyne and Bertrand occupying space higher up the pitch to pin back Alexis and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Davis was employed in a box-to-box role. In the front three, Pellè dropped deeper while Tadić was given license to roam. While the Italian was the focal point of the attack, Shane Long was the main threat for the Saints, with his marauding runs a problem that Monreal and Koscielny had to deal with.

The first real opening of the game though, came in the form of a slide-rule pass from Santi Cazorla. Afforded acres of space, he displayed tremendous vision to find the run of Danny Welbeck. Unfortunately, his finishing was eventually found wanting, and the half-chance was squandered. The Saints trio of Davis, Cork and Wanyama were let off there.

2 minutes later, the Saints were able to engineer an attack through fantastic interplay from the midfield and the attack. While nothing concrete was borne out of that, this displayed their intentions in the game (which I’d mentioned above). Pellè’s dropping deep here was coupled with the forward run of Shane Long. Nonetheless, Koscielny was able to usher the ball out because of Long’s heavy touch.

The last noteworthy observation I’d made was of Pellè’s gilt-edged opportunity on 13 minutes. While Mertesacker was caught ball-watching on that occasion, I was more intrigued by the Saints midfield as shown in the screengrab. Towards the left of the picture, the two base midfielders (Cork and Wanyama) are joined by Clyne and Bertrand. This is shows that Saints were essentially playing with 2 wing-backs who were adept at both attacking and defending.

Following this, Arsenal grew into the game, albeit gradually. In truth, most Arsenal moves were sparked by individual flashes of skill, with Arteta’s deft passes and impressive vision missed. This did not help break down the Saints, who were almost a 4-1-4-1 off the ball, stifling the Arsenal attack. Furthermore, with this being the third game in seven days for the Gunners, fatigue had settled into the squad, with the players not as sharp in their passing and movement.

Yoshida > Cork, Alderweireld in Midfield

The withdrawal of Jack Cork forced Koeman’s hand, and as a result he brought on Japanese centre-back Maya Yoshida. The versatile Alderweireled was made to partner Wanyama in the holding midfield position. However, this was more of a reshuffle in personnel than of one in the system, with the full-backs still advancing high up the pitch.

A Plan B?

From the withdrawal of Jack Cork, to the half-time break, and after the start of the second half, there were no significant moments in the match with most goal attempts from either side easily dealt with by their ‘keepers. While the match was relatively drab, with chances far and few between, enter Olivier Giroud.

Much to the displeasure of the Arsenal crowd, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was replaced by Giroud. I’d assert that most fans were more displeased with the withdrawal of Chamberlain than they were with Giroud’s introduction. However, the Frenchman stamped his authority on the game with his aerial ability and fantastic movement.

Giroud’s introduction meant that Welbeck was pushed out wide to the left flank with Alexis patrolling the right. Nonetheless, in typically fluid Arsenal style, Giroud was given liberty to roam outside the box too.

As can be seen here, his distribution of passes was varied. Additionally, the Frenchman drew two fouls, completed 14/16 of his passes and created 3 chances through his movement and hold-up play. His setting up of Welbeck in the box following a Cazorla pass embodied his fantastic movement in front of goal. Additionally, his aerial prowess provided an alternative outlet for the Gunners. He did well in that aspect, winning 2/3 aerial duels.

Conclusion

It wasn’t the rosiest of victories, with the Gunners required to dig deep and grind out a win just as they did against West Brom. With the games coming thick and fast in December, gaining momentum in the run-up to 2015 certainly won’t hurt. Taking into account our next 5 league games include visits to the Britannia, Anfield and Upton Park, we’re certainly heading in the right direction.

One-nil to the Arsenal then, we’ll take it.