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Almost an hour had drifted by with little to suggest Arsenal were serious about this late assault on the top-four when suddenly their two biggest stars came to life.
Mesut Ozil, flimsy and peripheral until this point, eased to his left on the edge of the box and opened his body in order to thread a first-time pass towards Alexis Sanchez as he exploded into the penalty box.
It was a fabulous example of Ozil’s supreme vision, touch and appreciation of others around him.
Sanchez gathered the pass on the turn, shaped to shoot and chopped the ball from right foot to left, sending centre halves Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens sliding across his field of vision in a blur of red and white.
With only Fraser Forster to beat, Arsenal’s Chilean striker rammed a shot low past the feet of the Southampton goalkeeper.
In doing so he became the first Arsenal player to reach 20 goals in a Premier League season since Robin van Persie in 2011-12. Van Persie’s goals fired Arsene Wenger’s team into the Champions League that year and Sanchez may yet do the same.
Like Ozil, little had gone right for him, with his listlessness best illustrated by a woeful foul throw in the first half. When it mattered, however, Ozil and Sanchez combined for a goal to ease the pressure which seemed to have stifled the Londoners.
Olivier Giroud came off the bench to score the second and victory lifts them into fifth, above Manchester United.
Arsenal were far from fluent, unable to summon any real urgency and anxious in possession. But they are fighting at least, and won in the league at Southampton for the first time since December 2003, the Invincibles campaign.
They have left it late but there is a sliver of hope as they attempt to qualify for the Champions League for a 20th successive year. Wenger has a perfect record of qualification and insists he has never written off the idea of making the top four.
In the past, he has seen his team scramble over the line on the last day, often at the expense of Tottenham. This year, Liverpool and Manchester City will be checking anxiously over their shoulders.
With a trip to Stoke on Saturday and home games to follow against Sunderland and Everton, Wenger’s side will target three more wins and hope someone stumbles. They have won four of five games since last month’s dismal defeat at Crystal Palace which prompted the manager to switch to a back three.
Although they look far from watertight, the change has certainly made them more solid at the back. This was a second clean sheet in four days after shutting out Manchester United on Sunday.
Arsenal arrived here without the reassuring presence of their captain Laurent Koscielny and lost wing back Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to a tweaked hamstring muscle before half-time.
Chamberlain will face a fight to be fit for the FA Cup final. The injury is a blow for Wenger but more so for the 23-year-old England international who has been craving a run of games in the team. Whenever the chance seems to beckon he is so often struck down by an injury.
Saints were the better team in the first half with Manolo Gabbiadini a threat in front of goal. The Italian was denied by Petr Cech and swerved a free-kick narrowly wide. Cech turned over a fierce drive from 25 yards by Nathan Redmond and Arsenal did not create a clear opportunity until the final seconds of the first half.
Hector Bellerin, on for Oxlade-Chamberlain, delivered a fabulous cross from the right, Danny Welbeck climbed to meet it but his tame header glanced across goal and out to safety.
Wenger’s team were slow to get into their stride again after the break. Mistakes littered their passing game. Too often the final ball went astray. Southampton also struggled in the second half.
Claude Puel’s team have not mustered a goal in the last three games and are without a win in more than a month.
‘We cannot find a clinical edge,’ said Puel. ‘It’s a big disappointment and a big frustration. After another good performance these players are not finding their reward.’
Though safe in mid-table with 42 points they could easily slide if their season fizzles out.
Arsenal seized control when Sanchez struck on the hour, played with greater freedom and closed out the game with Giroud’s goal, seven minutes from time.
A deep cross from Sanchez was headed back across goal by Aaron Ramsey and the substitute arrived to convert with a header from close range.
It added a gloss the game did not really deserve but that will not trouble Wenger.
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