Arsene Wenger has insisted that Arsenal "deserved" to beat Southampton, despite not scoring until the final minute of the match at the Emirates Stadium this evening.

Fraser Forster made a string of saves to deny the Gunners, but Alexis Sanchez finally broke the deadlock to give the home side a 1-0 victory.

The manager told BBC Sport: "It was a difficult game against a good side but we deserved to win, it was a victory of patience and intelligence and we kept our structure well.

"We were jaded physically but Alexis Sanchez can dig deep and has such desire and a will to win, he still finds that resource to get you something special.

"We had to be patient to create chances and their keeper played well. A positive of the night is thee clean sheets in a row. big respect for the attitude of the players and the solidarity they show."

The result moves Arsenal up to fifth in the table ahead of their match against Stoke City this weekend.