Cuco Martina put Southampton up 1-0 over Arsenal with an absolutely filthy long-range goal. Ryan Bertrand sent in a somewhat ambitious cross and it was headed out of the penalty area and seemingly away from danger. However! Martina strode right into it with an even more ambitious strike and the only difference this time was Martina added some outside-of-the-foot english to his ambition. Good Lord, what a combination it turned out to be. It curled around an Arsenal defender who was standing in the middle of the penalty arc and somehow tucked inside the near-side post.It was Martina's first goal in the Premier League, which in a way is amazing. In another way, it's kind of a bummer because how in the world is he ever going to top that?UPDATE:Southampton scored three more on the day—one of them a lovely team goal that didn't come without its own bit of controversy. A quick break saw Shane Long with a quick one-two that ended in a Southampton 2-0 scoreline. But Long appeared to have tripped up his defender in the process.
The question is whether or not Long tripped up his man with intention or not. The world may never know.Either way, Southampton came in with a subsequent goal from a corner that saw captain José Fonte connect with a header—and then Long hammered in yet another in the second minute of stoppage time for four goals on the day.
4-0 isn't quite 3-0 (a first-Long-goal-discounted scoreline), but either option represents a dominating victory from the Saints. So close to the top of the table, Arsenal. So close.[NBC]
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