Santi Cazorla scored from the spot to seal a 2-1 win and give Arsene Wenger’s men back-to-back league victories either side of the worldwide break.
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“It’s a relief”, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.
Dusan Tadic’s free kick was pushed onto the crossbar by Petr Cech but the ball came back down off the Arsenal goalkeeper’s back and into the net.
And the row over the penalty might not have been so long and bitter had Shane Long converted either of the two second-half chances south coast club Southampton created in north London.
“I had a lot of time to think about where to shoot my penalty, but I kept calm”, he said.
He added: “We could earlier maybe have had one or two penalties at corners”.
Shkodran Mustafi has taken to social media to reveal his delight at playing his first game for Arsenal in Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 win over Southampton.
But questions will be asked as to whether play should have been stopped by referee Robert Madley as Gunners’ skipper Laurent Koscielny lay prone in front of the Saints goal with a head injury at the time.
“After 90 minutes of good work it is a big frustration”.
Arsenal hadn’t managed a shot on target until that point.
“They were a bit surprised by the pace and commitment of the Premier League, but they will adapt to that”. They were also nervous in the first half.
The long-serving Wenger, who is under pressure from Arsenal fans to deliver a league title again, was pleased with his side’s response to going behind. “In the second half, I felt we dominated well again, created many risky situations, but couldn’t score”.
MORE: Get TREBLE the odds on any sports bet. “When you lose your first home game you can not afford to drop points in the second home game because it creates a little bit an anxiety level at home and that’s not what you really want”.
Cazorla’s penalty was the third Southampton have conceded so far this season in just four games and Puel is not happy with that statistic. “It is now important to get a result”.
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Southampton hosts Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday.
