Arsene Wenger hails team performance following 5-0 drubbing of Southampton

Wenger, who is serving a touchline ban after being charged with misconduct following his tirade in their 2-1 win over Burnley, saw the game from the director's box as Steve Bould stationed for him on the touchlines. He will be on the stands for the next three games - against Watford, Chelsea and Hull City - a period which can have a massive impact on their title challenge.

Wenger will be pleased by the strength in depth at his disposal, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Jeff Reine-Adelaide showing that the manager can count on them in the absence of Santi Cazorla, Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny. Lucas Perez also made a claim for a starting spot with a flawless performance, picking up an assist for Welbeck's first goal.

"Yes, it was a tremendous team performance," Wenger told Arsenal's official website. "For example we won 5-0 but our goalkeeper was very good and from number one to 11, I would say everybody had a good performance.

"We looked as well like a real team, it was compact, well-organised, explosive on the transitions and overall of course I am pleased for Danny Welbeck who is not at the club [for a long time] and for Walcott that they scored the goals. Overall we behaved like a real, compact, united team."

"Yes, exactly," added the manager, when questioned about their slow start against Preston. "I reminded them at half-time as well because what I liked was that we didn't ease off. We continued to play and that is very enjoyable to watch."