Gabriel's own goal helped Saints past Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round

  Southampton players celebrate after forcing Arsenal to concede an own goal in their FA Cup triumph at St Mary's. (Photo credit: Sky Sp...

 

Southampton players celebrate after forcing Arsenal to concede an own goal in their FA Cup triumph at St Mary's. (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

FA Cup holders Arsenal were dumped out of the competition in the fourth round after a 1-0 defeat at St. Mary’s Stadium on Saturday.

 

Summer signing, Gabriel Maghaeles diverted into his own net in the first half and that was enough to earn Southampton their first ever win over Arsenal in the FA Cup.

 

The result brings an end to Arsenal's six match unbeaten run in all competitions.

Before the match, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said Captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang had traveled but was unavailable to play due to "personal reasons." this altered selection as Eddie Nketiah replaced the Gabonese upfront.

 

Southampton started brightly and James Ward Prowse came close to scoring inside five minutes but his corner rattled the crossbar.

 

Former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott also had an opportunity moments later but he was unable to find a way past Bernd Leno who was bang alert.

 

The hosts took a deserved lead after 24 minutes when Gabriel deflected in a low Kyle Walker-Peters cross past his own keeper.

 

Arsenal improved in the second half and Rob Holding had a good chance to equalize from a corner but failed to hit the target after miscuing wide.

 

Both sides were close to scoring after the hour mark when Walcott blazed over from close range and Eddie Nketiah produced a fine save from Fraser Forster; Nketiah failed to score with a decent chance in stoppage time and Southampton held on.

 

They will face Wolves in the fifth round of the FA Cup in February.

 

"We had in the first half more punch and more power," Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl told BT Sport. "In the second half it's normal they have a lift. We must make the second goal.

"We made one or two chances – Shane Long should have gotten a penalty. We had early ball wins, but our last decision-making was not always the best. In general our work without the ball was good. It was a good team performance today."

 

It was the third in the last four seasons where Arsenal have failed to progress into the fifth round of the competition.

"Really sad to be out of the competition," Arteta told BT Sport after the match. "Disappointed to be out and the way we conceded. We had issues in the first half and unforced errors as a result of the high-press they do.

"In the second half we had two or three big chances but not enough. It was an even game. In the first half they won a lot of second balls. In the second half we added more quality.

"We became more dominant and created chances but it wasn't enough. "We are looking in the market and see what we can do."