Arsenal’s 22-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end with a 3-2 loss at Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday, with Charlie Austin’s 85th-minute goal sealing a first win for new Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuettl.
Arsenal twice came from behind through goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and looked like preserving an undefeated streak in the league stretching back to Aug. 18 — a stretch of 14 games.
But Shane Long got free down the right and sent in a cross that went over Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno and was headed in at the far post by Austin. It was a winning goal that lifted Southampton out of the relegation zone with 17 of 38 matches gone.
Danny Ings had earlier put Southampton ahead on two occasions with headers, taking advantage of poor positional play from Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny, who was making his first league start since April after a serious knee injury.
Hasenhuettl took over from the fired Mark Hughes and lost his first game in charge, at Cardiff last weekend. He celebrated the win by running onto the field and leaping into the air in delight.
Chelsea victorious
Chelsea consolidated fourth place in the Premier League with a 2-1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday that became harder work than had seemed likely in the first half.
Having won 4-0 at the Amex Stadium last season, they were on course for a repeat after taking a 2-0 lead at the interval.
Eden Hazard set up the first goal for Pedro after 17 minutes and scored the second himself before halftime following a defensive error.
Brighton came back into contention through Solly March’s goal midway through the second half and Lewis Dunk went close to an equaliser.
The home side have not beaten Chelsea in any competition since 1933 but they stayed 13th in the table, nine points clear of the bottom three places.
Chelsea moved three points clear of London rivals Arsenal, who were beaten at Southampton.
First Published: Dec 16, 2018 21:30 IST
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