LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hailed Gervinho following the attacker's double in yesterday's 6-1 win over Southampton at Emirates Stadium.

The Ivorian was joined by Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott on the scoresheet alongside two own goals from the visitors, as the Gunners ruthlessly defeated the just promoted Southampton.

And Wenger was understandably delighted with the 25-year-old Gervinho's performance in a central position, joking: "You know we transform all the wingers into central strikers!

"I decided that during our tour of Asia, when I tried to play him in that position against Manchester City, I liked what he did and I put that in the back of my mind.

"He is such a great mover and he is so quick that when he wants to get ahead of the central defender, it's difficult to catch him."

Wenger also expressed his happiness with the Gunners' overall showing against Nigel Adkins' men and praised the contributions of Podolski and Santi Cazorla.

"The first 45 minutes were of a high level. We had a good combination of pace, passing, quick combinations and the movement was excellent," he said.

"We want Cazorla to have the ball and I think he typifies what the midfielders in Spain are like; technically perfect, great vision, and a great team attitude.

"Podolski is physically strong and a fantastic finisher. I had a little hesitation whether to play him or Gervinho centrally but he gives us a balance on the left which i didn't want to destroy."

Meanwhile, Southampton boss Adkins later admitted it has been a difficult start to the season for his side, after defeats to three of last season's top four.

"We've played the three best teams in the league. We've got a good group of players, we know we can score - we just need to become more resilient," he said.

"We will quickly move on, we will have a great week's training in order to prepare us for the next game.

"We have learned a lot about everyone today. We believe in what we're doing, we believe in how we play.

"Next week I'm sure St Mary's will be bouncing and the players will work hard and we'll be ready for the next home game."

RESULTS

Norwich 0 West Ham 0

Man United 4 Wigan 0

Aston Villa 2 Swansea 0

Fulham 3 West Brom 0

QPR 0 Chelsea 0

Stoke 1 Man City 1

Sunderland 1 Liverpool 1

FIXTURES

TODAY

Reading v Tottenham (11pm)


STANDINGS
                                                          P       W      D       L       F       A       Pts
Chelsea                                           4         3       1       0      8       2        10

Man United                                       4        3        0      1     10      5         9

Arsenal                                             4       2        2       0      8      1        8

Man City                                           4        2        2       0      9      6       8

Swansea                                        4        2        1       1      10     4       7

West Brom                                      4        2       1         1      6     4        7

West Ham                                        4       2      1        1       4       3       7

Fulham                                           4        2      0         2     10      6        6

Everton                                         3        2      0         1       4      3        6

Stoke                                           4       0        4        0       4       4       4

Aston Villa                                  4       1       1         2       4       5       4

Newcastle                                  3       1       1        1       3       4       4

Wigan                                          4      1       1         2      4       8       4

Sunderland                                  3      0       3       0       3       3       3

Norwich                                     4       0       3       1       2     7        3

Tottenham                                3         0      2        1       3      4       2

Liverpool                                 4         0      2        2        3     8       2

QPR                                         4       0      2        2         2     9        2

Reading                                   2       0      1       1        3       5       1

Southampton                          4        0       0      4       5      14       0

- mD

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