Arsenal stormed the pitch ahead of a 3-0 Premier League win over Southampton on Saturday as boss Mikel Arteta dropped captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the match-day squad for disciplinary reasons.
Before kickoff, Arteta kept quiet as he explained that Aubameyang’s absence was due to a “disciplinary breach”, with Alexandre Lacazette starting on his own front.
Southampton had the better in the opening exchange on a rainy afternoon with Adam Armstrong and a fine save from Aaron Ramsdale as the Gunners struggled to deal with the visitors’ high press.
He managed to break it completely in the 21st minute with a sweeping move, attacking to the left where Bukayo Saka four to Lacazette, who fired home.
“It was a great goal, played from behind, we’ve been practicing this movement; it’s good to see it played well. We practice these things every day in training,” playwright Martin Odegaard told the BBC .
The Gunners went up twice six minutes later when Southampton’s sluggish defense was penalized by Odegaard as Kieran Tierney’s effort bounced back to him and he headed the ball back home for the Norwegian.
The goal was Odegaard’s third in three Premier League games, and his angled pass plagued the Southampton defense all afternoon.
The second goal seemed to take the wind off Southampton’s sails as their defensive intensity faded and Arsenal defender Gabriel thought he had scored a third goal at the hour mark, only to see it chalked up to offside. has gone.
He popped up again a few minutes later and this time made no mistake, to make home a 3–0 away corner.
Southampton’s work injury did not help the return of Armstrong and strike partner Armando Broza, and they struggled to create good attacking opportunities in the second half.
The win leaves Arsenal fifth on 26 points, while Southampton are 16th on 16 points, and Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuetl will not have much time to rally his injury-prone squad.
“We have a big squad but it’s thinning out. It’s something we should focus on – the weather is tough and now comes the intense times,” he told the BBC.
“We have to step up again. We play against Crystal Palace on Wednesday. We have to show better performance.”
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