Despite their best efforts on the night, Arsenal suffered their earliest Capital One Cup exit since 2002, when they were knocked out by Sunderland in the third round. The Gunners were defeated by a strong-looking Southampton, who look even better than the side that finished in eighth place in the Premier League last season, even with the mass exodus over the summer window.
Arséne Wenger on Diaby, defensive issues and younger players:
"We are a bit short defensively, yes because of the injuries we have. You sit there and you think Gibbs couldn’t play because of a slight problem, Mertesacker is a bit on the edge and then we have no choice. Mertesacker had a little gluteus problem. He declared himself fit but at the moment we are so short that it's difficult with the games he plays. We have to play on Saturday against Tottenham and then an important game on Wednesday against Galatasaray and then we go to Chelsea. To absorb all these games without being rested when you have a little problem is very difficult. Kieran and Per will be alright for Saturday."
"I think if we lost the game tonight it’s not because of Hayden and it’s not because of Chambers. It’s not because of Coquelin. We have to be realistic. I don’t want to go into any individual assessment because it’s always very easy after defeat. I cannot fault the spirit and I cannot fault the attitude. I think the first reason for our defeat is the quality of our opponent and the performance of our opponent. If you look at the amount of possession we had in the second half, and you play for so long with the amount of possession we had, you have to score."
"Of course. It was difficult for Abou but he got 60 minutes and he was not injured. At some stage he has to play. He had 90 minutes for the under-21s at Villa last week. He played 60 minutes tonight. He was not bad, he was acceptable as a performance but he tired after an hour."
David Ospina also talked after the game and was very happy with his debut, despite the scoreline:
"I'm really happy to make my debut and play my first game with Arsenal. Unfortunately we didn't win and the result went against us but I just want to keep working. I'm really tranquil because I did my best. The second Southampton goal was superb and Clyne is a really skilful player. There were a lot of people in the box and when I saw the ball, it moved and I didn't have time to react."
"We would liked to have kept going in the cup. It was one of our aims and the result was not very good for us. Everyone was sad afterwards because we want to win more titles for Arsenal but I will keep working. I felt really happy when I went onto the pitch because people were supporting me a lot. I'm learning all the time. The style in England is different because they play really quickly and with a lot of aerial balls."
A young Gunner, Hector Bellerin, said that it 'just wasn't Arsenal's night':
"It wasn't our lucky night so we're out. We need to keep playing and get this experience because otherwise you never start. Southampton played a really good game as well but I think the team played well, we had our chances. I think we deserved a bit more but these things happen in these kind of competitions where you've just got one game and you've got to do your best."
"It was an inexperienced back-line but I think we did well. We need to keep playing and get this experience because otherwise you never start. It's always a pleasure to play with these players and overall it's a great experience for us."
New Southampton manager Ronald Koeman could do nothing but praise his team for the way that they fought back from a goal down:
"Winning at Arsenal is difficult. Everybody spoke about that maybe they would change their team. They did some changes like we did. After a fantastic costless-kick from Sánchez I think we had a fantastic reaction. It was a great performance and great spirit from the team. It’s an amazing result for us and the fans who support the team."
"That’s the quality of Clyne. He has a good shot. He’s a right full-back who’s very offensive. He deserved a goal because from the beginning of the season he’s played very good and I’m happy about his performance. It was a fantastic goal, a great shot. It was a great moment in the game and then the team had more confidence to play and have a good defence. You can stay behind in the result. We kept the spirit, ambition and belief – that was the key today."
"Targett had a fantastic performance. It looked like he’d already played three seasons in the first team. He’s got a lot of belief in himself and it was a great performance. I’m very proud of him. Mané brought a lot of speed in the game and he was fantastic for the penalty. He is an important player for us and he showed that tonight. We have to continue and if we always bring 100 percent then I think we can have a fantastic season, but we have to keep our feet on the ground."
Meanwhile, match-winner Nathaniel Clyne spoke of his delight at scoring the winning goal:
"I get to enjoy the goal that I scored today, unlike at Anfield. It was the winning goal as well, so I'm happy. We put in a good team performance and I think we deserved our victory."
"The ball just fell to me from the corner, and nobody was closing me down, so I thought I'd just take a shot and it went in. I think this one was better than my last goal like this [at Burnley], especially at the Emirates. It's good to score against the bigger clubs, and hopefully I can get a few more goals."
"Arsenal are a strong team. We came here, we dug deep, created a lot of opportunities and probably could've scored more goals at the end. But, it stayed at 2-1 and now we can push onto the next round. They were strong, especially their attack. The attack was really strong, so we knew that we had to be at the top of our game to defend against the attacking players. I thought we did well. Apart from the costless-kick, which we could do nothing about, it was a great win."
Next up for either side is a return to Premier League duty. The Gunners face fierce rivals Tottenham the the late kick-off on Saturday, whilst Southampton come up against another London side, this time playing against Queens Park Rangers at St. Mary's, a match that will see the return of Harry Redknapp to the ground yet again.