Published: 23 September, 2014
by PAUL COWLING at the Emirates

Capital One Cup Third Round

ARSENAL 1, SOUTHAMPTON 2

ARSENE Wenger has warned that the Gunners are “short on numbers in defence” ahead of Saturday's north London derby against Spurs.

The Arsenal manager is hopeful that both Per Mertesacker and Kieran Gibbs will be available to start the Premier League clash at the Emirates. The duo were unused substitutes as Arsenal crashed out of the Carling Cup following a 2-1 home defeat to an impressive Southampton side.

Wenger made ten changes from the side that strolled to three Premier League points at Aston Villa on Saturday, with Abou Diaby getting almost 70 minutes under his belt for the first time since March 2013, while there were full debuts for Joel Campbell and goalkeeper David Ospina.

"It is frustrating to have lost”, said Wenger. “We had a good start, but made errors for their two goals, and we were exposed at the back.”

Looking ahead to a run of fixtures that include Tottenham and Chelsea, Wenger added, “defensively we are a bit short because of the injuries we have. You sit there and you think Gibbs couldn’t play because of a slight problem, Mertesacker is a bit on the edge and then we have no choice.”

Arsenal had dominated the opening exchanges, and took the lead in the 13th minute thanks to a sumptuous free kick from their Chilean star, Alexis Sanchez. The home side was awarded a free kick after Jack Wilshere was fouled 30 yards from goal – and up stepped Sanchez to curl the ball into the top corner of the net with Saints keeper, Fraser Forster, left rooted to the spot.

This should have been the cue for the Gunners to press home their advantage, but instead it was Southampton who upped their game. The visitors equalised in the 20th minute courtesy of a composed penalty from Dusan Tadic after Tomas Rosicky was adjudged to have fouled Sadio Mane in the area.

Southampton then began to dictate the play and they took the lead on 38 minutes through a vicious, swerving drive from right-back Nathaniel Clyne. Lukas Podolski should have equalised straightaway, but Forster got down low to save his first time shot.

Despite the introduction of Santi Cazorla and former Southampton player, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Arsenal lacked ideas, and barely troubled Forster as they pushed for the equaliser to force extra time. Sanchez did go close with an effort late on, but the England keeper blocked the goal bound effort.

In the end Southampton comfortably held on for a 2-1 win, leaving Arsenal with three trophies left to fight for this season. “I can't fault our spirit or our attitude,” bemoaned Wenger. “But, it was frustrating not to score with all our second half possession.”

ARSENAL: Ospina, Chambers, Hayden, Bellerin (Akpom 86), Diaby (Cazorla 66), Coquelin, Wilshere, Rosicky, Sanchez, Podolski, Campbell (Oxlade-Chamberlain 71)

SUBS NOT USED: Gibbs, Mertesacker, Martinez, Ajayi

Attendance: 59,621