Southampton v Arsenal: FA Cup quarter-final - live
Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this feature34 min: Fellows twists and turns out on the right to make himself some space. Cute play, but the cross that follows is no good. Saints continue to show promise whenever they get upfield.Share33 min: White’s lax backpass nearly lets Stewart in. Kepa hacks clear just in time.ShareUpdated at 15.35 EDT32 min: The resulting corner is a non-event, Norgaard penalised for some pushing and shoving.Share31 min: Havertz dances in from the right and aims for the far corner. His shot takes a deflection off Wood and loops towards the top left. Peretz is out of the game, but the ball misses the frame of the goal by inches.Share30 min: … and here he comes again, swaying down the right and shooting low and hard towards the bottom right. Peretz does well to block and turn the ball around the post, especially as there’s a yellow balloon nearby, floating around, putting him off. Just a corner, which Saints deal with. Then Peretz bursts the balloon.Share28 min: Manning’s got to watch himself now, and Dowman knows it. The young man slaloms towards the Saints defender, hoping to get the better of him down the right. This time Manning times his challenge well. Goal kick. But this duel is heavily weighted in favour of Dowman now.Share27 min: Dowman advances down the right only to be crudely clattered from behind by Manning. He goes into the book, and won’t play in the semi if Saints make it through.ShareUpdated at 15.33 EDT26 min: Martinelli zips down the left and cuts back for Odegaard, in space ten yards out. Odegaard shapes to shoot, but kicks the ball against his standing leg. It pings harmlessly out for a goal kick.ShareUpdated at 15.33 EDT25 min: Odegaard has a dig from the edge of the box. It’s heading into the bottom right. Peretz parries away from danger.Share24 min: … and from that, Arsenal probe patiently, until Dowman takes a shot that’s blocked the second it leaves his boot.Share23 min: Odegaard rolls a pass wide right for White, who claims his cross was deflected out of play by Scienza’s elbow. No penalty, though, just a corner.Share22 min: Martinelli very nearly spins clear of Bree down the left, but the Saints full back sticks to his side and eventually steals off with the ball. Both teams looking lively in attack.Share20 min: Stewart hares after a long pass down the middle. Mosquera ushers the ball back to his keeper, but needs to strain every sinew to hold off the striker. A good physical battle.Share18 min: Gabriel misjudges a header on the halfway line, and suddenly Scienza is away! He glides in from the left and reaches the box, but instead of taking an early shot, tries to round Kepa on the right. That allows Mosquera to get back and flick the ball off his toe before he can send the ball goalwards.Share17 min: The corner leads to a long game of head tennis. Finally Jesus curls a shot towards the top right. Inches wide, with Peretz unsure, scampering over to shepherd the ball around the post.Share15 min: Scienza and Stewart bustle down the left, their combination nearly opening Arsenal up. Then Arsenal counter, Martinelli winning a corner with a dribble down the left. This is an entertaining, open game.Share13 min: Dowman crosses from the right. Saints clear. Suddenly Stewart is bombing up the right on the counter. Gabriel does just enough to stop him tearing clear. Instead a crossfield ball is pinged towards Azaz, who can’t chest down and control on the left-hand edge of the Arsenal box. Once again, though, Saints look dangerous when they spring upfield.ShareUpdated at 15.20 EDT11 min: Two more Arsenal corners in the sequence come and go. Peretz claims the second of them. Arsenal’s first period of sustained pressure is over.Share10 min: Odegaard wanders over to take the corner. It’s worked back up the wing to White, who rolls infield. Martinelli pearls a rising shot towards the top-left corner. It’s heading in, a well-worked move … but Harwood-Bellis is on point to flick a header over the bar. That saved a certain goal.Share9 min: Martinelli chases after a long pass down the left. He cuts inside and shoots, but Bree flings himself in the road of the shot and sends a looping deflection out for a corner on the right.Share7 min: Stewart ploughs down the left and rolls infield for Bragg, who has time and space to shoot, 25 yards out. He looks for Fellows to his right instead, and makes a mess of the pass. This is all very promising for Saints, who look dangerous every time they pile forward.Share6 min: Dowman dribbles his way down the inside-right channel and glides infield. He opens his body and rather telegraphs a sidefoot to the far corner. Easy for Peretz in the Southampton goal.ShareUpdated at 15.12 EDT5 min: A first touch for pantomime villain Ben White of England. Booooo! All a bit half-arsed and performative, if we’re being honest.Share3 min: Now it’s Scienza racing upfield, into acres of space down the left. He should take a shot upon entering the box, but attempts to chop his way infield, past Gabriel. He goes over, claiming a penalty. The referee’s not interested, the player going down early and looking for the contact with the defender’s leg.Share1 min: Saints are on the front foot immediately, Fellows romping into space down the right. He takes one touch too many, though, allowing Lewis-Skelly to put a stop to his gallop. An early statement of intent from the hosts.ShareArsenal get the ball rolling. Plenty of noise, the St Mary’s faithful marching in.ShareThe teams are out! Saints in Bobby Stokes yellow and blue, Arsenal in Ted Drake red and white. Smoke billows across the pitch, the remnants of a pre-match pyro party. It’ll clear soon enough, and we’ll be off in a couple of minutes.ShareMikel Arteta speaks to TNT Sports. “The boys really wanted to play immediately after the [Carabao Cup] final … today we have another opportunity … that is the beauty of football … we are looking forward to it … you have to adapt … full trust in the team … it is great to have [Martin Odegaard] back … [Kepa] deserves to play … he has been exceptional … [Southampton] are in a great run … we are desperate to go back to Wembley.”ShareSome more on that 1976 FA Cup win. The memories of Southampton’s manager that day are very much worth revisiting …… as is this from Philip Millard: “Fun fact: my mum and Auntie Sadie were at some fancy hotel in London for a Masonic ladies night. Southampton were there, celebrating that cup win. In the days before ‘selfies’ and all that, they followed Mick Channon, who was hanging onto the cup, into the gents’ toilets so they get their hands on it. The cup, that is.”ShareSouthampton’s 33-year-old boss Tonda Eckert cuts a calm figure as he talks to TNT Sports. “It is a big game for us … we had the whole week to prepare … we are up for it … we are confident that we have found some ways to bring our game onto the pitch … [Arsenal] is a good team … a lot of quality … not easy to press them … we need to stay switched on … to suffer some moments … to be brave … have the courage to play … find some moments on the ball … make it an open game.”ShareArsenal get to wear their first-choice red and white this evening. This is because Southampton will be dressed in yellow and blue, commemorating the 50th anniversary of their victory in the 1976 FA Cup final. Those are the colours they sported at Wembley as Bobby Stokes scored late on for Lawrie McMenemy’s second-division side, shocking hot favourites Manchester United. The commemorative shirt has the signatures of all the players in the cup-winning team woven into the fabric, and only 1,976 individually numbered replica shirts have been produced. Fans have been encouraged to follow suit with the retro colour scheme tonight, so let’s see if they comply.ShareSouthampton make five changes after the 2-0 Championship win over Oxford United. Nathan Wood, Cam Bragg, Caspar Jander, Léo Scienza and Ross Stewart come in for Cameron Archer, Shea Charles and Cyle Larin, who are benched, and Flynn Downes and captain Jack Stephens, who miss out altogether.Arsenal make seven changes following the Carabao Cup final, the most eye-catching of which is a start for 16-year-old Max Dowman. Cristhian Mosquera, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Christian Nørgaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and captain Martin Ødegaard also step up; William Saliba, Viktor Gyökeres and Martín Zubimendi are on the bench, while Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Piero Hincapié and Leandro Trossard are all absent.ShareThe teamsSouthampton: Peretz, Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Wood-Gordon, Manning, Bragg, Jander, Fellows, Azaz, Scienza, Stewart.Subs: Long, Quarshie, Romeu, Charles, Edozie, Robinson, Archer, Oyekunle, Larin.Arsenal: Arrizabalaga, White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard, Norgaard, Dowman, Havertz, Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus.Subs: Raya, Saliba, Gyokeres, Madueke, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Harriman-Annous, O’Neill, Salmon.Referee: Sam Barrott (West Yorkshire).ShareUpdated at 14.13 EDTPreambleTheir unfortunate no-show at the League Cup final apart, Arsenal have taken some stopping this season. Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester United required dramatic late goals to best them in the Premier League and … er … that’s it. So on the face of thing, this should be a shoo-in for the leading club in England against second-tier opposition. Especially as Arsenal have won 45 of their last 48 FA Cup ties against teams from lower divisions; they’ve won 14 of their last 16 quarter-finals; tonight’s opponents Southampton have lost all of their last five quarter-finals against top-flight opposition; and Arsenal are four from five against the Saints in the FA Cup, a record that includes victory in the 2003 final.But nothing’s ever that simple in the FA Cup. Arsenal may have that 80 percent record against Southampton in this competition, but it’s Saints who won the last meeting, 1-0 in January 2021. And while Arsenal are this season’s form team in England, Saints aren’t on a bad roll either, unbeaten in 14 games, having won six of their last seven. Fold in the fact that Arsenal’s victory at St Mary’s on the final day of last season was only their seventh win in 18 visits, at a venue where they’ve tasted defeat six times, and suddenly things aren’t quite so crystal clear.You’d still expect the quadruple- treble-chasing Premier League leaders to prevail tonight; of course you would. But the FA Cup is fond of the odd surprise, and Arsenal have a crucial trip to Sporting Club coming up in three days’ time, so you just never know how this will pan out. The story begins at 8pm BST. It’s on!Share
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