Southampton book spot in FA Cup semi-finals after shocking Premier League leaders Arsenal

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arteta-mikel/lAbHYaQM/"]Mikel Arteta[/a] had almost two weeks to stew on the Carabao Cup final defeat to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Manchester City[/a], as his attention turned to a cup competition that had yielded the only piece of major silverware during the Spaniard’s tenure to date.[/p][p]With a treble on the line, the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Gunners[/a] had two early chances for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/max-dowman/WzLvGkGO/"]Max Dowman[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/martinelli/dITe5M88/"]Gabriel Martinelli[/a], with the latter’s effort superbly blocked by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/harwood-bellis-taylor/2J6t1Fdl/"]Taylor Harwood-Bellis[/a].[/p][p]The Championship high-flyers were in no mood to accept their fate as cannon fodder, though, as Léo Scienza raced through one-on-one with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arrizabalaga-kepa/Yq2dyUwN/"]Kepa Arrizabalaga[/a] before being successfully marshalled away from goal by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mosquera-cristhian/4O15XViB/"]Cristhian Mosquera[/a].[/p][embed guid="d8080f20-56f4-4ec2-aa7d-80ea72b78d24" url="https://x.com/SouthamptonFC/status/2040533525900759491?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Gunners were looking to up the ante, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/daniel-peretz/MVgAbUb4/"]Daniel Peretz[/a] called into action to parry away [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/odegaard-martin/ID32TGhp/"]Martin Ødegaard[/a]’s strike. He had another chance moments later, blazing a close-range effort over the bar, much to Arteta’s frustration on the touchline.[/p][p][b]And he would have felt much worse when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stewart-ross/2L76lB8m/"]Ross Stewart[/a] fired the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/southampton/WdKOwxDM/"]Saints[/a] ahead with a clinical finish at the end of a swift counterattack, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bree-james/xbdEc7Ag/"]James Bree[/a]’s ball looped over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/white-ben/pvGdJANj/"]Ben White[/a] and allowed the Scotsman to fire home past Kepa.[/b][/p][p]Dowman had a chance to net an equaliser when his effort was blocked by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/manning-ryan/bcjICzbK/"]Ryan Manning[/a], but it was Arsenal’s uncharacteristically sloppy play at the back that was almost their undoing once again.[/p][embed guid="016af6aa-3338-4b30-ae47-ff0401bdc030" url="https://x.com/SouthamptonFC/status/2040535594758005228?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" social-type="twitter" /][p]Gabriel gifted the ball to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fellows-tom/bFmncvID/"]Tom Fellows[/a] with a lackadaisical cross-field pass, but blasted his shot over the target. Scienza then came agonisingly close to scoring a second Southampton goal in stunning fashion, cutting inside from the left before unleashing a right-footed strike, which cannoned off the bar.[/p][p][b]That near-miss would prove to be costly, as substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gyokeres-viktor/zaBZ1xIk/"]Viktor Gyökeres[/a] – fresh from securing Sweden a FIFA World Cup berth with a winning goal against Poland – made the desired impact when he slotted home from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/havertz-kai/rH8BZWiI/"]Kai Havertz[/a]’s cut-back after the German was found by Gabriel’s through ball.[/b][/p][p]Arsenal would have been tipped to go on and win the tie from that point, and Dowman had his sights on being the match-winner with a fine left-footed strike that was tipped behind by Peretz.[/p][image alt="Key stats" id="74b58600-e265-4d92-a358-51c876589ac0" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="f0a9598e-4600-42b9-89a7-4cd472c56f7d" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b]Martinelli then shot wide from the resulting corner, but amazingly, it was Southampton who struck next, as Fellows made a driving run forward and laid the ball into the path of substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/charles-shea/8xIbHy74/"]Shea Charles[/a], who calmly placed a fine finish past Kepa, which clipped in off the post.[/b][/p][p]After six nerve-shredding minutes of stoppage time for the hosts, Tonda Eckert’s side held on for a famous victory and a place in the semi-finals.[/p][p]The German becomes only the third Saints manager to win his first four games in the FA Cup after George Goss in 1925 and Alan Pardew in 2009/10. They now have a trip to Wembley to look forward to, while Arsenal see the chance to win another trophy go begging in what has been a sobering fortnight for Arteta’s team.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scienza-leo/AP2xf66T/"]Léo Scienza[/a] (Southampton)[/b][/p][image alt="Key stats from St Mary's" id="be41056e-bd07-42fc-8d51-6241a0b681a3" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="82b982b3-b352-4585-942e-0d08766a4266" original-width="1920" original-height="1280" /][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/arsenal-hA1Zm19f/southampton-WdKOwxDM/?mid=jDKPyBhf"]Catch up on all the match stats with Flashscore by clicking here[/a][/h2]