SOUTHAMPTON, England: Shea Charles scored five minutes from fulltime as second-tier side Southampton stunned Arsenal with a 2-1 victory in their FA Cup quarter-final at St Mary’s on Saturday on a night they remembered a famous victory in the competition 50 years ago.
Southampton took the lead on 35 minutes through Ross Stewart, but Arsenal were level midway through the second half when Viktor Gyokeres equalised. The Premier League leaders looked the most likely winners from there.
But when the home side launched a counter-attack on 85 minutes, they did so with numbers and Tom Fellows fed Charles in the box for him to poke the ball past goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Southampton, who wore a special yellow commemorative jersey to mark 50 years since their 1976 FA Cup final win over Manchester United, join Manchester City and Chelsea in the semi-finals.
West Ham United host Leeds United in the last of the quarter-finals on Sunday.
"Incredible night, the celebrations are mad. An unbelievable night for the club. We knew we could hurt them. We were a threat on the counter," Stewart told BBC.
"We will enjoy tonight. Tomorrow we'll be back to business. It's not every day you reach an FA Cup semi-final. We have a lot of tough league fixtures between now and then."
The result heaped more misery on Arsenal, who were defeated in the League Cup final by Manchester City in their last match, and now bow out of a competition they have won a record 14 times.
"There are no excuses for tonight," Arsenal midfielder Christian Norgaard said. "It has nothing to do with injuries or availability. We had a really good team on the pitch that should have been competing on a high level.
"We need to pick ourselves up. We have two big competitions left to compete in."
Southampton manager Tonda Eckert extended his unbeaten run to 15 games in all competitions. Although his side had to soak up long periods of Arsenal pressure, they deserved their victory.
Southampton took the lead after a horror moment at the back for Arsenal defender Ben White. A simple aerial cross from James Bree was missed by White and fell perfectly for Stewart to collect and fire past Kepa.
They came close to a second when Scienza’s dipping shot from the left-hand side of the box hit the top of the crossbar.
But Arsenal were back level on 68 minutes as substitute Gyokeres side-footed into the net from 10 yards after a fine run from Kai Havertz teed-up the chance.
They looked the most likely to go on and win it, but with the clock running down, a quick break from Sou.thampton created the chance for Charles, who could not miss from 12 yards.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
