Southampton sink frail Arsenal to reinforce their top-four ambitions

Wojciech Szczesny reached into the back of the net for his bottle and he took a long glug. The only pity for the Arsenal goalkeeper was that there was nothing stronger in it than water. Szczesny had just erred for the second time to present Dusan Tadic with the second Southampton goal and his grab for the bottle felt like an instinctive defence mechanism. Perhaps he wanted something to do with his hands.

It were his feet that had been the problem on this occasion. Following Steven Davis’s wonderful control and cross from the right, Mathieu Debuchy had jabbed the ball back at Szczesny and he seemed to panic that it represented a back-pass. So he swiped at it with his boot and succeeded only in finding Tadic, who squeezed home his shot. “Maybe it was a new year’s present from them,” Ronald Koeman, the Southampton manager, said.

Koeman’s team led through Sadio Mané after Szczesny’s first bad decision of the day – a reckless bolt from his line – and they were value for the points, having played the slicker football and created fistfuls of chances. Graziano Pellè was twice denied by the post and Koeman admitted that when his only criticism of the players in a game against Arsenal was their failure to score the killer third goal, pretty much everything must have gone to plan.

Arsenal had their chances, principally through Santi Cazorla at 0-0 and the relentless Alexis Sánchez at 1-0 but they did not do enough to merit anything. No team can make the mistakes that they did at the back and emerge unscathed. Arsène Wenger had finally been able to play his full-strength back five but the dawn of the new year was marked by familiar errors. They struggled to cope with the bullying presence of Pellè and, in particular, high balls over the top.

Southampton strengthened their grip on fourth place but, for Arsenal, there was the latest check to their momentum. They have still to win three Premier League games in a row this season. “Every time we look like we can get on a run, we have a hiccup,” Wenger said.

The opening goal had Wenger shaking his head. Mané bustled in behind Laurent Koscielny, following James Ward-Prowse’s high ball forward and, after Szczesny had dashed from his line and then retreated, he lofted a curling left-footed chip from a tight angle over the goalkeeper.

It was a beautiful finish but Koscielny ought to have done better and Szczesny’s positioning was haphazard. Things might have got worse for Arsenal before the interval but Szczesny saved smartly with his legs from Ward-Prowse after Mané’s cut-back.

Mané was promptly forced off, having seemingly been injured in his goal celebrations. Koeman was unclear on the nature of the Senegalese’s problem but, with the Africa Cup of Nations looming, he hoped that it was not too serious.

Southampton made in-roads up the flanks and they should have been in front much sooner. Pellè headed Tadic’s seventh minute cross against a post while he forced Szczesny into a scrambling save from Ryan Bertrand’s centre.

Sánchez was typically sharp and inventive. He worked Fraser Forster from distance in the early going while he also absorbed heavy challenges from Florin Gardos and the excellent Victor Wanyama.

Arsenal’s big chance came on 21 minutes, when Tomas Rosicky cut back smartly for Cazorla but the first-time shot was directed at Forster, who beat clear. It was a glaring miss. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also went close following Cazorla’s pull-back.

Sánchez might have put a different complexion on the game in the 55th minute when he fastened onto Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross, jinked and shot – Forster made a fine low save – and, moments later, Southampton were further in front through Tadic.

They threatened to inflate the scoreline. Tadic twirled majestically and curled just wide; Pellè hit the near post from Bertrand’s cross, with Ward-Prowse lifting the follow-up high, and Debuchy cleared off the line from Pellè after Tadic had read Koscielny’s poor back-pass and got around Szczesny.

There was controversy on 68 minutes. Sánchez sprinted clear and he was halted by Florin Gardos’s foul on the edge of the area. “A definite red card,” Wenger said, but the referee, Stuart Attwell, reached for yellow. Sánchez curled the free-kick over the cross-bar. It was not Arsenal’s day.

Man of the match Victor Wanyama (Southampton)