Olivier Giroud climbed off the bench to rescue a point for Arsenal in a 1-1 draw at Southampton.
The France international struck two minutes from the end as Saints just failed to hang on to Charlie Austin’s early opener.
Austin had punished Arsenal for a calamitous beginning to the match with his fourth goal in his last three starts.
With just two minutes on the clock the striker collected a loose clearance from Per Mertesacker and fed Dusan Tadic.
Austin timed his run into the area perfectly, taking Tadic’s return ball in his stride and lashing it past Petr Cech.
Things could have got worse moments later when Tadic sent Austin through again, with Arsenal’s defence nowhere to be seen, but this time Cech blocked the striker’s low drive.
Arsenal eventually recovered from their woeful start, but they struggled to find a way through a dogged Saints defence until Giroud’s late intervention.
| Saints V Arsenal The Verdict | When the line up was announced someone commented that Mauricio Pellegrino appeared to have picked the names out of a … 11-12-2017 |
| Our man of the match: Arsenal (H) | Southampton were left frustrated once again this season as they were held to a draw by Arsenal on Sunday. Although a … 11-12-2017 |
Goalkeeper Lewis’ promising form continued with another clean sheet as Dundee United secured a 2-0 victory away at Greenock Morton to maintain their one-point advantage at the top of the Scottish Championship. The Tangerines boast the best defensive record in the division.
In Belgium, Jordy Clasie played the full 90 minutes as Club Brugge cruised to victory over Lokeren in the Belgian Pro League. Early goals from Hans Vanaken, Benoît Poulain and Abdoulay Diaby set the capital club on their way, who now sit six points clear at the summit.
Back in England, Harrison Reed played the duration for Norwich as the Canaries beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at Carrow Road, their first league win in eight matches. A foul on Reed in the box allowed striker Nelson Oliveira to make the points safe from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Sam Gallagher was a second-half substitute in Birmingham City’s 1-0 loss to Fulham at Craven Cottage. Jeremie Boga missed a late spot-kick for Blues following Sheyi Ojo’s early opening goal.
Olufela Olomola meanwhile came off the bench on the hour mark for Yeovil but was unable to prevent the Glovers to slipping to a 2-0 home defeat against Lincoln. Strikes from Matt Green and Matt Rhead sealed the points for the Imps.