Southampton and Arsenal shared two goals and the spoils at the St Mary's Stadium this evening.

The hosting Saints took the lead when Gaston Ramirez fired into the Arsenal goal from the edge of the penalty area with 33 minutes played.

However, an own goal from Guly do Prado just seven minutes later drew the visiting Gunners level and ensured that they returned to London with a point to show for their efforts.

Below Sports Mole has looked back over the match to see if either could argue that they deserved to win.

Match statistics:

Southampton:
Shots 9
On target 6
Possession 46%
Corners 3
Fouls 9

Arsenal:
Shots 6
On target 4
Possession 54%
Corners 3
Fouls 6

Was the result fair?

All in all you'd have to say a draw was just about fair. Southampton were perhaps the better side over the 90 minutes and certainly had more chances, but they didn't create enough to argue that they should have collected all three points.

Southampton's performance

Nigel Adkins is bound to be pleased with what he saw from his team today, particularly defensively. Arsenal scored seven goals in their last match but the Southampton rearguard kept them at bay for the majority of this match. That's not to say they didn't get forward well either because they had more shots than the Gunners.

Arsenal's performance

Following their recent performances, Arsene Wenger will be disappointed with what he saw from his team today. Key players such as Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla simply failed to live up to the standards that they have set themselves so far this season. Wenger's main concern is likely to be his side's failure to create many chances.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Jose Fonte: The centre-back is Southampton's captain and he gave a real skipper's performance today. He threw himself in front of numerous shots and made countless clearances to ease the pressure on his team. During the brief spells when Arsenal were on top, Fonte kept his cool.

Biggest gaffe

Bacary Sagna will probably cop for some flak from his manager following his error that helped Southampton break the deadlock. Instead of clearing the ball, the French full-back sent it straight into his own area and when the ball bounced free, Ramirez was on hand to score.

Referee performance

Lee Probert could have perhaps given a penalty to either side during the first half, but even after a number of replays it is hard to decide which way he should have called the incidents. Apart from that, the official allowed the game to flow and was pretty much flawless.

What next?

Southampton: The Saints are in FA Cup action on Saturday when Chelsea make the trip to St Mary's.

Arsenal: On Sunday Arsenal enter this season's FA Cup when they travel to Swansea City.