Arsene Wenger has said that Arsenal's 2-0 victory was due to his side pouncing on Southampton's mistakes this afternoon.
Olivier Giroud nicked the ball off the toes of Artur Boruc for the opener and got a late second from the spot at the Emirates Stadium.
"I'm very happy because we were against a good team and they showed why they made good results before," manager Wenger told BBC Sport. "We couldn't take our chances, but we took advantage of their mistakes.
"It's a very good win against a difficult team. They stopped us well from playing. When you see Southampton play today we know why they won at Liverpool and drew against Manchester United.
"They are a good team and if they had won today they would have been level with us at the top of the league, so that shows you how good they are."
The result sees Arsenal extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.