Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has criticised Southampton's time-wasting tactics during the second half of his side's 1-1 draw at St Mary's Stadium this afternoon.

Southampton took the lead after just three minutes through Charlie Austin and managed to keep the Gunners at bay until the 88th minute, when Olivier Giroud finally found a way through to rescue a point for the visitors.

Despite salvaging a draw from the jaws of defeat Wenger was left unhappy with how much time was wasted by the hosts, and also accused the referee of preventing them from restarting the game quickly late on.

"I must say I am very frustrated as in the second half there was a lot of time-wasting," he told reporters.

"Especially on the final ball on the counter-attack, it is very frustrating to give the advantage to the guy who had the foul because we were not only called back.

"We were three against one but we played it quick and the referee called the ball back without any reason and that was a huge advantage for Southampton in the final minute."

The result leaves Arsenal fifth in the table and now closer to the relegation zone than they are to leaders Manchester City in terms of points.