Arsenal Football Club moved closer to rivals Chelsea in the Premier League standings on Sunday, as the Gunners narrowly beat Southampton 3-2 and the Blues could only muster a 1-1 draw against West Ham United.
Danny Welbeck and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took care of the scoring for the Gunners, while Cesar Azpilicueta and Javier Hernandez got on the scoresheet at Stamford Bridge.
Both teams still sit well outside the top four and the UEFA Champions League spots, but Arsenal’s main focus is on qualifying for the competition via the UEFA Europa League.
Recap
Arsenal and Southampton served up a wild encounter on Sunday that had just about everything, including some controversy at the end.
Shane Long opened the scoring for the visitors―courtesy of a blunder from Shkodran Mustafi―before Aubameyang and Welbeck turned things around in the first half.
Charlie Austin came off the bench to tie things up, but Welbeck bagged the winner just minutes after he missed a huge chance that had critics sharpening their knives. Football writer James McNicholas weighed in on the fun:
Jack Stephens and Mohamed Elneny ran into red cards late as the result of a melee that kicked off when Jack Wilshere pulled back the former. Stephens was initially booked, and with emotions still running high, Elneny followed suit shortly after. Wilshere himself got away with a yellow card.
While most fans seemed to think both sending-offs were harsh, Southampton manager Mark Hughes had a different opinion:
Azpilicueta opened the scoring in Sunday’s other contest, which wasn’t nearly as action-packed. The Blues appeared to be on their way to an easy win for the majority of the match, but Hernandez had other ideas, tying things up after 73 minutes.
Chelsea had their chances to grab the win late, but Joe Hart put together one of his best outings of the season to win his team a point.
