Don't Miss

[Ratings & goals] Arsenal 2-0 Southampton: Leno & Mkhi superb as Gunners go fourth

By mac14 on February 24, 2019

Arsenal beat Southampton 2-0 at the Emirates this afternoon to move up to fourth in the Premier League table.

We started well and opened the scoring early on as an Alexandre Lacazette backheel made it 1-0 before Henrikh Mkhitaryan doubled our lead to make it 2-0 in the 17th minute.

Arsenal squandered a number of chances to further increase our lead with Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Auabmeyang among those who failed to make the most of our dominance but we eased to a 2-0 win.

Here are my ratings:

Leno 8/10 | Made a crucial save to deny Redmond at 0-0 and another smart stop to keep it at 1-0. Maintained the clean sheet with a great save late on. Excellent display.

Lichtsteiner 6/10 | Was having another solid game before limping off early in the second half.

Sokratis 7/10 | Battled well against Austin and put himself on the line to protect the clean sheet. Great to have him back in the side.

Mustafi 6.5/10 | Got caught out by Redmond early on but overall a decent game from the German defender.

Kolasinac 7.5/10 | A big outlet down the left. Played a superb pass to set-up Lacazette for a golden chance late in the first half. Also made a big block to deny Ward-Prowse a goal in the second half.

Torreira 7/10 | Worked hard to get about the Southampton midfield and kept things neat and tidy when in possession.

Xhaka 7.5/10 | With the exception of a poor pass early in the second half, he ran the show for much of the game and stretched the visitors with some lovely passing – particularly in the first half.

Mkhitaryan 8/10 | Got the assist for the first goal and made it 2-0 with a well placed finish. Always dangerous on the ball. One of his best performances of the season.

Ramsey 6/10 | A few nice touches and linked up well at times but always seemed to be on the fringes of the game. Wasn’t really involved enough to make a real difference.

Iwobi 7.5/10 | Another impressive display. Set up Mkhitaryan for his goal and was positive going forward. Subbed late on with what looked like a calf problem.

Lacazette 7.5/10 | Clever goal to open the scoring and was always a threat. Should have got a second when he blazed over from close range before also firing straight at the keeper when well placed.

Subs:

Koscielny 6/10 | Comfortable after replacing Lichtsteiner.

Ozil 6.5/10 | Saw plenty of the ball after replacing Ramsey. One stunning flick sent Aubameyang clear late on.

Aubameyang 6/10 | Went close to forcing a third goal near the end after being sent clear by Ozil and saw a goal-bound shot blocked a minute later. Good impact.

It was an excellent first half to put us in control and we eased through the second period to get the job done. With Man Utd drawing at home to Liverpool, we’re now up to fourth. Bournemouth at home up next…

Watch the goals here: