Ultimately it was heartbreak for Saints in an injury hit battle, but they showed that they have the pride and the guts to take on anyone in this League.

Although it was pretty much a rearguard action as Saints seemed to pick up injury after injury, the whole team showed guts and pride in a performance that proved to a watching TV audience that they have what it takes to go to the wire in this season.

If it wasn't bad enough that they had to start the game with an injury list that included Morgan Schneiderlin, James Ward Prowse and Jay Rodriguez, it seemed to be one of those nights were we were not only having to play the opposition but lady luck as well and she wasnt smiling on us.

The loss of Jack Cork before the half hour mark was bad enough, but we regrouped and Toby Alderweireld was outstanding in central midfield, next to take a knock was Shane Long, but it seemed that he had to soldier on which he did excellently.

In the second half Long would surely have come off but Tadic got a knock and he again had to battle on, ironically just as we looked to be in the final five minutes or so and Long finally got that well earned rest, Toby Alderweireld Saints outfield man of the match pulled up with a hamstring injury and we were down to ten men.

Truth is though we gave the game away in the final minute, Fonte really should have cleared the ball and on another day may have seen a penalty given against him, his wild slice went on to his own arm and left an easy cross for Sanchez to tap tap in.

It was frustrating that after coming so far and battling the odds and matching Arsenal that we gave the game away so sloppily at the death.

But we restored our pride after the Manchester City defeat and i would say that very few sides in this division could battle as we did with so many key men injured to start with and then to lose three more during the game.

Arsenal knew they got lucky on this, yes they had plenty of possession and yes Fraser Forster was man of the match with not only a string of fine saves but a command of his box that was a delight to see, but the game was dominated by the injuries we suffered and the reshuffles we have to do.

The real irony is that in most games Ronald Koeman has only used two subs , seemingly preferring to be cautious and hold one back for emergencies, on the day he doesn't it turns out to be the day he needs to.

Saints fans should be proud of their team tonight, it showed character and it showed heart, that will stand us in good stead for the rest of the season. .

Photo: Action Images

Horndeansaint added 11:56 - Dec 5 Have to say Consigliere that the applause for AOC left a bad taste with me, bearing in mind that the greedy little so and so and his skate dad engineered a move away at the earliest moment possible and back in those dark days when we needed all of our talent to stick with the club that gave them their opportunity in the first place. No need to insult the lad but the sycophancy displayed at Arsenal was misplaced in my opinion and reminded me of the A**e licking that the skated displayed towards Thierry Henry back in the day. I strongly believe that AOC would have benefited long term by staying at Saints and be a better player than he is now.

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Horndeansaint added 11:57 - Dec 5 Have to say Consigliere that the applause for AOC left a bad taste with me, bearing in mind that the greedy little so and so and his skate dad engineered a move away at the earliest moment possible and back in those dark days when we needed all of our talent to stick with the club that gave them their opportunity in the first place. No need to insult the lad but the sycophancy displayed at Arsenal was misplaced in my opinion and reminded me of the A**e licking that the skated displayed towards Thierry Henry back in the day. I strongly believe that AOC would have benefited long term by staying at Saints and be a better player than he is now.

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Horndeansaint added 11:57 - Dec 5 Oops, sorry, twitchy finger
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TimSaint added 09:13 - Dec 7 A disappointing night and should have got a deserved point from the game, but it wasn't to be and we move on. The thing that really annoyed me was the ref. There were some awful decisions and most went against us. Cazorla could easily have been sent off for his challenge on Tadic and the ref didn't even give a free kick. On the BT Sport poll,it was 5050 that he should have gone. The other thing that really got me was Sanchez. Yes he is quality,BUT- you can tell he is from South America and has played in Spain. He goes down quicker than a cheap whore AND was waving an imaginary card a few times as well - which i thought was, or at least used to be a bookable offence in itself. Oh well,onto Monday we go and hopefully Man Utd will have an even longer injury list than ours !!!

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