Arsenal have remained in the hunt for a top-four place in the Premier League table with a 2-0 victory away at Southampton.
The Gunners realistically need to win each of their remaining fixtures to maintain hope of gatecrashing the Champions League places, but second-half efforts from Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud ensured that they replaced Manchester United in fifth position.
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After offering little threat against Liverpool on Sunday, Southampton were straight onto the offensive in front of their own supporters, with Steven Davis and Ryan Bertrand both firing off target from promising positions.
Up the other end, Saints old boy Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain found Aaron Ramsey after a quickly-taken corner, but the Welshman hit the ball wide from inside the penalty area.
It took until the 31st minute for the first shot on target to materialise, with Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech forced to make an excellent save to deny Manolo Gabbiadini, who was well-placed after Shkodran Mustafi had blocked Dusan Tadic's strike.
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Arsenal were dealt a blow before half time when Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up a knock and was forced to hobble off, and it seemed to shake the Gunners as they struggled to remain on level terms ahead of the break.
After Gabbiadini had sent a free kick off target, Cech made another superb intervention to prevent Nathan Redmond's shot from 20 yards finding the corner, with the ball ricocheting off the woodwork.
Moments after the restart, Davis should have done better with a chance after being teed up by Gabbiadini, while at the other end, Ramsey diverted the ball wide after good work from Hector Bellerin.
It appeared that Southampton were getting on top but on the hour mark, Sanchez registered his 20th goal of the league campaign in some style as he deceived both Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens before providing a composed finish past Fraser Forster.
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Arsenal soon pressed for a second without really threatening Forster's goal, but the same could be said for Southampton as their search for an equaliser led to numerous balls going into the box without getting a worthwhile shot being fired towards Cech.
With six minutes left, Arsenal made sure of the points when Sanchez and Ramsey combined to set up Giroud, who had the relatively simple task of heading home from close range.
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Southampton had a late opportunity through Shane Long, who headed straight at Cech, but this fixture further highlighted that they must strengthen in attack during the summer as they made it three games without finding the back of the net.
Darren Plant
