Bukayo Saka leads Arsenal to 3-1 victory over Southampton: Stats
Bukayo Saka emerged as the star player in Arsenal's Premier League match against Southampton, steering his team to a 3-1 triumph at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Despite an initial setback after Cameron Archer's goal for Southampton, Arsenal quickly regained control. Saka played a pivotal role in this turnaround by seizing possession and assisting Kai Havertz in scoring an equalizer against Aaron Ramsdale. Saka was involved in another assist and scored his side's third goal as Arsenal maintained their composure.
Saka's assist and goal secure Arsenal's victory
The tide of the match shifted in favor of Arsenal when Saka assisted Gabriel Martinelli in scoring a goal that survived a VAR offside check. This was followed by Saka capitalizing on another mistake by Southampton to score Arsenal's third goal, effectively sealing their victory. Despite some tense moments during the match, including near misses from Tyler Dibling and David Raya, Arsenal emerged as the deserving winners.
Arsenal maintain pressure on league leaders Liverpool
The victory over Southampton was particularly significant for Arsenal as it kept them just one point behind league leaders Liverpool. Arsenal own 17 points from 7 matches (W5 D2). They are tied alongside Manchester City in terms of points and goal difference. Liverpool are top of the pile with 18 points from 7 matches. Meanwhile, Southampton's search for their first victory continues, even though they showed improvement from their previous 3-1 defeat to Bournemouth. Southampton are placed 19th (1 point).
Here are the match stats
Arsenal made 29 attempts with six shots on target. Southampton had two shots on target from eight attempts. The Gunners had 60% ball possession and owned an 89% pass accuracy from 534 passes.
Saka and Havertz's brilliant season continues
Saka's two assists and a goal sees him race to 49 goals and 42 assists from 177 Premier League matches. In the ongoing season, Saka has 7 assists and two goals from 7 matches. In 236 matches for Arsenal, Saka now has 61 goals. Havertz scored his 6th goal of the season for the Gunners in 10 appearances in all competitions. Altogether in 61 matches, the German has smashed 20 goals.
