A Danny Welbeck brace saw Arsenal beat Southampton 3-2 in their Premier League encounter on Sunday afternoon at the Emirates Stadium, writes DEAN WORKMAN.

The Gunners rotated their squad for the game with likes of Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Henrick Mhkitaryan all left out of the starting eleven with an eye clearly on their second leg Europa League quarter-final clash against CSKA Moscow in Russia. The Saints, on the other hand, were desperate for the three points as they try to claw their way out of the bottom three.

It was Mark Hughes’ men who started brightly and after threatening Arsenal on a couple of occasions, they finally took the lead with 17 minutes gone. A Cédric Soares cross was inexplicably left by Shkodran Mustafi, allowing Shane Long to sneak in at the front post and poke the ball past Petr Cech in the Arsenal goal.

It did not take the home side long to strike back. A beautiful flick from Welbeck found Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang unmarked in the Southampton box and the striker made no mistake in nudging the ball past Alex McCarthy, 1-1 with 28 minutes gone.

Arsene Wenger’s team then took the lead on 38 minutes. Alex Iwobi played the ball to Welbeck, who pushed forward and let fly from distance. His strike was hit with too much power, leaving McCarthy stranded, 2-1 Arsenal.

The Gunners were in control at half-time after a shaky start.

The Saints came out knowing that they needed something from the game and after a period of pressure, which included a disallowed Long goal, the away side grabbed an equaliser. On 73 minutes, substitute Charlie Austin, who had been on the pitch for 76 seconds, was in the right place to tap home a Soares cross.

Arsenal then woke from their slumber and pushed forward in search of a winner. After a shocking miss moments earlier, Welbeck drifted to the back post and was brilliantly picked out by Iwobi, this time the Englishman found the back of the net, atoning for his earlier miss.

There was late drama at the Emirates as both Jack Stephens of Southampton and Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal were sent off.

The final score was 3-2 as the Gunners were pushed all the way by a Southampton side fighting for their lives.

Photo: Tim Goode/Backpagepix