Arsenal seem to have hit a stride with a 6-1 victory over Southampton producing a superb first-half display of attacking football to sweep the bottom-of-the-table club aside.  A Jos Hooiveld own goal opened the scoring before Lukas Podolski arrowed a 25-yard free-kick into the top corner. Gervinho then drilled in, and Nathaniel Clyne buried a second own goal before Danny Fox pulled one back. Gervinho grabbed his second after the break and substitute Theo Walcott then added a late sixth to leave Southampton still looking for their first point.

Many of the headlines emanating from the Emirates this summer concentrated on the loss of skipper Robin van Persie and Alex Song, but in Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla, manager Arsene Wenger has signed two players of genuine quality. Those two in particular were behind a glittering first-half display, with Southampton simply unable to cope at times with the movement and passing in the final third. Podolski’s goalscoring record in the Bundesliga was not always overly impressive, but his haul of 44 international goals suggested he would be a potent threat in the Premier League and he doubled the lead with a brilliant free-kick from 25 yards, giving Davis no chance.