It was another frustrating day for Arsenal. We had by far the best of the game, with some excellent approach play by Wiltod Bergkamp and Pires, but as so often seems to happen we seldom had people in the box at the right times.

Southampton had a few good breaks, but never really threatened until Arsenal had taken the lead in the last few minutes.

Vieira header a Luzhny corner goalwards, and it looked safe for Saints with the keeper behind it on the line, but somehow it squeezed through both Jones and a defender. Then Sainst had their closest chance when a Davies effort from a narrow angle came back out off the foot of the far post.

Still 8 points behind what with Tottenham rolling over at Old Trafford, but after recent results and performances it's just a relief to get 3 points on the board, and nice for Manninger to get his first clean sheet of the season too.

Silvinho had to come off at half time, with Dixon coming off the bench and Luzhny moving to the left (after which Pires dropped out of the game noticeably). Apparently Silvinho has a calf strain which makes him a big doubt for the Bayern Munich game on Tuesday. Apart from that we had a strong team out, with Vieira and Grimandi together in midfield and Adams and Keown together at the back. Saints' lack of ambition gave Adams the chance to surge forward a lot, and Grimandi's presence gave Vieira the chance to push forward too. Henry came off the bench for Wiltord but will presumably start on Tuesday.

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