Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck scored twice and somehow missed an absolute sitter during his side’s freaky 3-2 Premier League win over struggling Southampton at the Emirates Stadium.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also scored for Arsenal to cancel out an early opener by Shane Long, while Welbeck’s victor came shortly after Charlie Austin had equalised for the visitors.
The match ended on a chaotic note as Stephens saw red for lashing out at Jack Wilshere, who himself earned a yellow card for his part in an injury-time scuffle, while Mohamed Elneny was also sent off for a shove on Soares.
Watch the action-packed encounter in the video above.
Welbeck then cut inside onto Alex Iwobi’s pass to give Arsene Wenger’s side a barely-deserved halftime lead.
Mark Hughes’ side took an early lead when mistakes from several Arsenal defenders and Petr Cech saw the ball bounce through to Shane Long and the Ireland forward finished from close range.
The second half began with McCarthy making impressive saves from Aubameyang, Granit Xhaka and Iwobi to underline why he is keeping England worldwide Fraser Forster out of the Southampton team.
Long looked like he had restored the deadlock and the away support had a moment’s joy only to see the flag up.
Arsenal already have one foot in the last four of the Europa League following their 4-1 thrashing of CSKA Moscow in the first leg of their quarter-final clash on Thursday.
– The Gunners have scored 3+ goals in five successive home games in all competitions for the first time since their opening six matches of the 1958/59 season.
“He’s got knee ligament damage”, Wenger told the club’s official website.
Once again, the Arsenal defence made mistakes in the buildup.
Danny Welbeck put Arsenal ahead shortly before half-time but Southampton battled back to score thanks to super-sub Charlie Austin.
“My mind is set on the next game, doing well in those games”.
He’d get his goal in the 81st minute, stabbing home a header at the back post from an Iwobi cross. Shane Long, now experiencing something of a drought himself, opened scoring with his second league goal of the season, thanks in part to some bad defensive work by the home side.
Sunday’s Premier League action kick-off at the Emirates Stadium.
“I’m personally very happy and pleased for him, because this guy has gone through some hard times”. Likely to stick with two forwards, there could be some changes of personnel to a midfield who proved ineffective last week.
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“I thought I would get another opportunity to get a victor and I kept focused on that”.
