Paul Merson came up with the perfect answer to his midweek substitution. He scored a spectacular winner and condemned struggling Southampton to their eighth defeat in nine games that season.
Merson who had been subbed in five of his previous seven starts that season had stormed off in anger when he was taken off against Huddersfield but he scored an amazing overhead kick to win the match for the Gunners. There were chants of “we want Branfoot out” in the second half but the Saints battled strongly to restrict Arsenal to just the one goal.
Southampton’s goalkeeper Tim Flowers was the busier of the keeper and produced a great performance to keep the scoreline respectable and kept his team in the game but to no avail in the end.
