A double from Olivier Giroud sealed victory for Arsenal over Southampton at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The France international scored in either half to secure all three points for the Gunners, who have now opened up a four point lead at the top of the Premier League after second place Liverpool only managed to draw in Merseyside derby earlier in the day.
However, there is also just a four point gap between Brendan Rodgers’ men and ninth place Tottenham Hotspur, who were thumped 6-0 by Manchester City yesterday afternoon.
Arsene Wenger’s men return to league action on Saturday afternoon, when they travel to Cardiff City though they will first turn their attention to tomorrow evening’s Champions League clash with Marseille.
The Gunners will qualify for the knockout stages if they better the result of Borussia Dortmund, who face Napoli in Group F’s other fixture, while it will go down to the final round of games if the Ligue 1 side take all three points at the Emirates.
Meanwhile, the Express have reported that Newcastle United will move for Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy as Arsenal, Spurs and Juventus circle around their current number one Tim Krul.
