Arsenal beat Southampton for first win since Premier League return

Eddie Nketiah took advantage of a howler from Southampton stopper Alex McCarthy as Arsenal claimed their first win following the Premier League's resumption with a 2-0 success at St. Mary's.

The Gunners had endured a miserable return to action with consecutive defeats at Man City and Brighton respectively, but steered their bid to end the season in the European places back on track with a solid showing on the south coast.

Mikel Arteta's side hit the woodwork through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before Saints stopper, McCarthy contrived to pass the ball straight to Nketiah, who gleefully ran the ball into an empty net on 20 minutes.

Southampton dominated the ball but stand-in keeper, Emiliano Martinez only really had to deal with one troublesome drive from Shane Long as the Saints slumped to a 10th league home loss of the campaign.

Arsenal put the seal on victory late on when substitute Joe Willock tucked in a rebound after Jack Stephens was shown a straight red card for bringing down Aubameyang.

The result sees Arsenal rise to ninth, six points adrift of fifth-placed Manchester United with seven games to play. Southampton stay 14th, 10 points clear of the drop zone.

Arteta and Co will now turn their attention to Sunday's FA Cup quarter final at Sheffield United before hosting Norwich in the league next Wednesday. Southampton travel to Watford on Sunday evening.

Arteta snares morale-boosting win after Arsenal's tricky week of woe. It's not been a great nine days or so for the Gunners. Two defeats, continued uncertainty over star player contracts, mounting injuries and media pundits clearly questioning decision-making at the top of the club. Yes, Arsenal and Arteta really needed a result here, and they duly got it, thanks largely to a helping hand from McCarthy.

Arteta cut a man who meant business pre-kick off when he addressed the reason behind Matteo Guendouzi's omission from the squad following his actions at Brighton. "It's squad management," he said. And so it was. He had clearly read the riot act and got the response he was looking for from his players. It stops the rot, but there's plenty of tough calls and hard work ahead. This week marks six months since Arteta's first match in charge. There were positive signs pre-virus, but the Champions League objective was always going to be a tall order, and their propensity to drop points from winning positions may well be what they rue in the end.

After hosting Norwich next, Arsenal face a run of make or break matches in their attempt to finish in the European places. Wolves away is followed by Leicester (H), Spurs (a) and Liverpool (H). They then visit Aston Villa prior to finishing at home to Watford. The final two fixtures look favourable on paper if they are still in the Euro mix, but they are going to need to produce some season-defining improvement - and the same dogged, defensive toughness they showed here - to hit their targets.

Rob Holding (Arsenal). Solid throughout as Arsenal's defence stood up to the second-half pressure. Handled the hosts' main goal-getter, Ings in an assured manner and will be delighted to have helped his side claim the bonus of a clean sheet to go with the win.

SOUTHAMPTON: McCarthy 5, Valery 6, Stephens 5, Bednarek 6, Bertrand 7, Armstrong 6, Ward-Prowse 6, Hojbjerg 6, Obafemi 5, Redmond 6, Ings 6. Subs: Walker-Peters 6, Long 6, Vestergaard n/a, Romeu n/a.

ARSENAL: Martinez 7, Bellerin 7, Mustafi 7, Holding 8, Tierney 7, Pepe 6, Ceballos 7, Xhaka 7, Saka 7, Nketiah 7, Aubameyang 7. Subs: Willock 7, Kolasinac 6, Maitland-Niles n/a, Lacazette n/a.

10' - ARSENAL CHANCE! Aubameyang races onto a long ball over the top from Tierney. He charges into the area from the left but sees his thumping strike crash back off the woodwork.

20' - GOAL! Southampton 0-1 Arsenal. It's a HUGE howler from McCarthy, who sweeps up outside his box and passes it straight to Nketiah. The Arsenal man races towards an empty net and gleefully fires in.

55' - ARSENAL CHANCE! Martinez releases Auba with a raking ball over the top. The Gabon forward races into the left of the box and looks to put it on a plate for Nketiah. Bednarek intervenes on the stretch, but is lucky to see his block flash wide of his own post.

73' - SOUTHAMPTON CHANCE! Redmond lashes a shot into the side netting after chesting down Ceballos' miscued clearance on the left side of the area.

79' - SOUTHAMPTON CHANCE! Martinez produces a super save to thwart Shane Long before gathering the rebound at the feet of Ings.

85' - SOUTHAMPTON RED CARD! Jack Stephens is shown a straight red for taking out Aubameyang as they both chased a loose ball just outside the Saints area.

87' - GOAL! Southampton 0-2 Arsenal. Arsenal make the hosts pay. Lacazette has two bites at goal from the free kick. The first hits the wall, the second is saved by McCarthy, with Willock gobbling up the rebound.

Eddie Nketiah has now scored six goals from just 11 starts in all competitions this season for both Arsenal (4) and Leeds (2).

Six of Joe Willock's eight goals for Arsenal in all competitions have come away from home, with this his first Premier League goal for the Gunners in what is his 26th appearance in the competition.

Southampton suffered a 10th loss at home this season - equalling the club record for a Premier League campaign set back in 1993-94 when there were 42 games.