Arsene Wenger praises Santi Cazorla as Arsenal beat Southampton

Arsene Wenger praised Santi Cazorla's contribution to his Arsenal side's late win over Southampton at the Emirates.

Cazorla converted an added-time penalty to give the Gunners a 2-1 victory after Laurent Koscielny had answered a Petr Cech own goal.

The Spaniard held his nerve after a long wait while Koscielny received treatment for a facial injury, but it was the midfielder's tempo-setting passing as much as his cool head that impressed Wenger.

The Arsenal boss told Sky Sports: "A long delay is always a problem and I think he did very well to score because that goal has a heavy weight mentally for the team - and mathematically as well.

"He played very well. We struggled a little bit at the start - we were not fluent, not pacey and he helped us to get back in the game."

Wenger conceded his side were still working their way up to peak condition at the start of the new season, saying: "The water boils at 100 degrees, not 99 degrees, so even if you're one degree off you're not good enough at this level."

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The Frenchman fielded two debutants from the start in Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez and saw signs of encouragement in the performances of both.

He said: "I feel they were a bit surprised by the pace of the game, especially in the first half, and they did much better in the second, but Lucas has only played one game in La Liga and Mustafi has only played one half. In the second half he was much more decisive in his challenges."

Koscielny also caught the eye, not least for the acrobatic nature of his goal, and Wenger said: "I give him a lot of credit.

"He was away in Belarus on Tuesday with France and came back on Thursday. Today he turns up again when you're 1-0 down - that's fantasic."

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Asked if he agreed with Bobby Madley's decision to award the late penalty - for a shirt tug on Olivier Giroud - he said: "Everybody says to me that it was a penalty and I have not seen it again, so I am not completely sure."