Arsenal v Southampton: Player Ratings

Was rarely troubled last night in a match that was played mainly in Southampton’s half. Looked comfortable enough for a third choice keeper and is taking his opportunity of gametime fairly well

Solid performance from the young player against his former club, looked generally solid at the back which has taken some time in coming. Still needs to work better at blending the two roles a right back has during a game but couldn’t be faulted for much last night

The BFG’s job got increasingly easy as the night went on, with more and more of the match being played in the opposition’s half, but did everything he needed to do in protecting an inexperienced keeper

Didn’t have much to do for most of the game but looked solid in what he had to do, and since he has been back the defence has looked a lot more solid and less prone to breaking up

I’ve really tried to like Monreal this season but I just can’t do it. He seems to try very hard in both attack and defence but I just don’t think he is good enough. Looked rushed in defence and seemed to get in the way more than help when going forward

Flamini continued to do what Flamini does best: Work hard, break up the game and act as a decent mover of the ball when it comes to attacking. Granted he doesn’t make daring runs into the box or score wondergoals but he doesn’t make many mistakes and that was evident last night

Despite Wenger being booed when he took Oxlade-Chamberlain odd the pitch to put Giroud it made sense because the midfielder was not as good as he has been in recent performance. Not a great performance but he didn’t do anything particularly bad

Not quite as good as he has been in recent matches and he did suffer at times from trying a bit too hard to get things moving. Summed up at one point where he instigated a little passing move that ended up with him being set up for a shot on the edge of the area before balooning the ball over the ball.

Arsenal’s best player on the pitch again, and his tireless work and wonderful skill on the ball were again on show at the Emirates. His wonderful knack of turning up at the last minute to knock in a winner is also a very welcome ability and it’s proving invaluable after our ‘so-so’ start to the season

 If you ignore the poor miss in the first half then Welbeck was one of the better players on the pitch, but as a striker he has to be judged heavily on his finishing and quite simply he should have scored. Worked hard and made good runs in the final part of the  pitch but it was just one of those days in front of goal for the former United man

Aaron Ramsey has still not quite got over the fact he was really good last year, and doesn’t seem to quite understand that form means things come and go in football. Not sure he’s suited to the new defensive role and also struggled from the Monreal syndrome of getting in the way. Did gram the assist for the winning goal though.

Came on for Oxlade Chamberlain and looked solid but unspectacular. Was unlucky not to score after a few great saves from Forster