Southampton Boss Mauricio Pellegrino Praises Saints' 'Intelligent' Performance After Arsenal Draw

Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino was left hopeful that his side will be able to continue their upturn in form for their Premier League clash with Leicester City on Wednesday evening, using their spirited and intelligent display during their 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday as the catalyst. 

Saints striker Charlie Austin put the hosts ahead after just two minutes with a tidy finish over Petr Cech from inside the area, however the south coast club were pegged back late on via an Olivier Giroud equaliser with just two minutes remaining. 

Going into the clash there would not have been many of the St Mary's stadium faithful who would have turned down a point against the Gunners, however they were forced to settle for a share of the spoils came after conceding late on for the second time in three games. 

12 days previously Southampton surrendered what would have been an impressive point at Manchester City in the dying moments through a Raheem Sterling screamer, an unfair reflection considering the effort and quality levels the Saints displayed throughout the 90 minutes in the north west. 

However, despite losing out via a late goal yet again, Pellegrino insisted conceding against Arsenal was different to that of the Etihad Stadium, and was left hopeful his side's pleasing performance is the catalyst for a continuation of good form. 

“At the beginning the feeling is that we have conceded at the end again, as it was more or less the same against City but it is different because we played a good game, showed intelligence and we got a point”, the Argentine told the club's official website.

“I think we competed really well, even with the changes we made and players like Jack and Prowsey who were out of their natural position. I am happy with that.

“Against this team you have to play close to excellent, because they don’t need too many actions to create problems but in both aspects, attacking and defending, we were intelligent and focused from beginning until the end.

“It’s a good reference for the future and in three days we have another opportunity. Hopefully we can continue in this way.”