Southampton produced a stunning display of high-energy counterattacking football to end any hopes Arsenal had of leapfrogging Leicester at the top, Southampton 4 – 0 Arsenal.
“Arsenal had no answer to such stunning energy and pace. Mertesacker was miserable at the back and Koscielny was bullied by Long. And on the subject of Long, what a performance! His was an example of how non-stop pressing can force mistakes and turn games”.
Stoke City 2-0 Manchester Utd
Stoke City condemned Manchester United to a fourth straight defeat to increase the pressure on manager Louis van Gaal.
Bojan Krkic broke the deadlock after a poor header back to David de Gea from Memphis Depay allowed Glen Johnson to play it back to the Spanish forward.
Stoke went 2-0 ahead through Marko Arnautovic’s 25-yard finish after Bojan’s free-kick had hit the wall.
Van Gaal dropped captain Wayne Rooney, who came on as a half-time substitute, and United struggled to create chances.
Stoke were superior throughout and could have won by more.
Arnautovic missed a great chance to add to United’s misery when clean through, while Potters keeper Jack Butland denied Marouane Fellaini, Anthony Martial and Juan Mata.