It took a last gasp goal from Alexis Sanchez to kill off Southampton at the Emirates Stadium last night.
For 88 minutes Fraser Forster put up a ‘Great Wall’ performance to keep the Gunners at bay as Southampton served notice that their place at the top end of the Premier League is fully deserved.
After losing 3-0 at home to Manchester City on Sunday the pressure was on to see how Ronald Koeman’s side would react but although defeated by Arsenal Southampton demonstrated that they are worthy of their current Champions League slot.
“It’s harsh losing right at the end,” the former Celtic keeper told the Saints website. “ I thought we’d done enough for 0-0 but it wasn’t meant to be. We were maybe missing that little bit of luck that we needed and then we went down to ten men with Toby going off injured.
“It’s hard enough 11 against 11, but there are plenty of positives to take from that. If we play like that in the majority of the games, then we’ll pick up a lot of points.”
Looking at his own display Forster added: “It was nice to contribute, I’ve probably been underworked with how good the team has been through the first ten games. It is important when they do get through I do my best to help the team and hopefully I did that tonight.
“It was disappointing not to see it out. We matched them for 90 minutes. The Emirates is always going to be a hard place to come but for them to score right at the end is very disappointing, we just need to move on and carry on into next Monday (at home to Manchester United).
“They are a top quality side. They move the ball well and to play the last ten minutes with ten men is always going to be really hard. It is a bit cruel but we can hold our heads high.”
