Henry had the 1st effort after 3 when a shot from distance hit Freddie on the edge of the box & was cleared. 5 mins later Dennis hit a nice pass through the advanced square defensive line, but Henry had to run a bit too far round to get it.

On 11 Pires beat the offside trap (same advanced square defence: take note!) to receive a diagonal pass in space on the left but it carried too far & though he managed to chip back into the box Dennis was the only yellow shirt there, well outnumbered. Up the other end & Phillips had Saints 1st effort, a decent low strike (allowed by Cygan) which went too close to Lehmann.

On 14 Henry carried from the halfway line & shot from the edge of the box a deflection forcing a good save.

Moments later, great play from Henry took him from the left wing to the goalline, then cut back past 2 defenders (the 2nd time, both of them) & popped the ball up for Dennis in space at the far post. He tried to place a header just inside that post but only found side netting.

There was some dithering in the box from a Saints set piece, we were lucky that it didn't fall better for Beattie. It was cleared for a throw which was flicked goalwards but Jens managed to fall on it.

Pires went on a solo run on 20, left to right & to the edge of the box where he tried to chip across Niemi & inside the far top corner but the keeper was wise to it.

Then Lehmann had to deal with 2 crosses from the left (Clichy's inexperience exposed a little, perhaps). The 1st he had to come & make a great punch, the 2nd was an easy catch.

Dennis cleverly anticipated Niemi's reaction to dodgy back-pass as the keeper reversed direction to try to place his clearance. Bergkamp was unlucky not to get a block on it but would have had to be lucky for anythign to come of it.

Beattie got to the goalline on their right and cut the ball back low into the box where Cygan knocked it out for a corner. There was a bit of funny goings-on in the box which delayed the corner, including Phillips appearing to stamp on Lehmann's foot. when it did come in it was cleared to Higginbotham who hit a Jonny from 20 yards.

On 30 the home fans appealed for a pen when Sol knocked Beattie over as he headed the ball clear. But Beattie never claimed, and he'd not gone for the ball, while Sol's eyes had never left it.

We took the lead on 34. A short throw to Dennis from the halfway line on the right passed short again to Henry, and he spotted that square line & space for Pires to run onto on the far side of the pitch. One perfect diagonal pass & one perfect Pires touch later, the ball was slipping beneath Niemi's body for 1-0.

On 41 a terrific cross from Freddie on the left was intercepted just before it landed on Bergkamp's head for a very good chance. Then Phillips got the ball in the box after a poor pass from Sol had gifted Saints the ball and they played it back into the box. But Sol made up for his mistake by shepherding the striker and forcing him to play it out wide again, and when the cross came back in Phillips flick on only took it safely wide.

Possibly the highlight of the first half didn't work, though. An amazing first-time cross-field pass by Henry right on the left touchline that was heading for Freddie's run on the right intercepted just before it reached the Swede.

The second half was a little different. Southampton came at us a little more but didn't get any actual goal efforts in. They were very diappointing overall. Looked a but scared (and who can blame them?)

5 mins in Henry took a free kick from 25 yards curled in and just missed the top right corner by a foot. Niemi didn't move. 2 mins later Toure made a run for the box and chipped towards Pires near the spot. It eluded Bobby but fell to a defender who kindly passed it wide to Freddie who was clear on the right of the box. He hit a nice shot across Niemi from a narrow angle and the keeper reached out to make another fine save.

Edu and Kanu came on for Freddie and Dennis with 15 minutes to go, and right at the end Lauren came on for Pires. Henry it a shot from outside the box which Niemi spilled. Pires was nicely placed to get to it but lost his footing.

Southampton, who have a knack of scoring near the end, did come forward more, but whenever they lobbed the ball into the box there was an Arsenal player up to the job. Clichy did well right near the end to stop Phillips getting a clear chance, and Pires was on hand to mop up (bnot for the first time, he'd made a crucial tackle on Beattie earlier). Lehmann made some good gets, including one right at the death. He caught the ball and fell to earth as the final whistle was blown. Then he got up and threw the ball at Phillips' back. There didn't appear to have been any contact between them in that immediate incident, so one can only assume that it was an accumulation or irritations, perhaps startign with that stamp in the 2st half, which got Lehmann so worked up. Very silly, and despite Wenger's playing it down after the final whistle there's a chance that the ref will include it in his report and Jens will face a charge. Still, at least he had the sense to wait till the match was won.

More than 1-0 would have been nice, but the win's the thing. We've lost too many leads recently. No losses still, though, and we're halfway through the season. 1 point behind Man Utd, and 3 ahead of Chelsea (see table).

Rupe adds...
Thanks to everyone who's written in so quickly to tell me that Gilberto has the flu. There had to be some explanation other than the fact that Ray and Edu are more effective! I'm yet to see or hear any mention of this in the media or internet though so, while I don't doubt it's true, it'd be nice to have a source.

Also, the ref Steve Dunn has confirmed that he didn't card anyone after the whistle because the laws of the game don't allow it, but that he will include the incident involving Lehmann in his report to the FA. Ominously, he added, "Afterwards Lehmann came in and apologised to me - that's nice, but won't change what's in my report". Looks like a charge for Jens...