Wenger: "Everyone says it was a penalty"

Wenger conceded he had not yet seen a replay of the incident, but felt sure there referee had made the correct call. Cazorla, meanwhile, admitted he did not know whether the referee got his call right, but was happy to take advantage.

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud goes down inside the area followed by a Santi Cazorla penalty to decide the game.

Arsene Wenger voiced his relief at Arsenal's hard-fought 2-1 Premier League victory over Southampton, believing the late awarding of a controversial penalty was the right decision. Match official Bobby Madley pointed to the spot deep into stoppage time when Jose Fonte made contact with Olivier Giroud, and Santi Cazorla slotted home the resulting kick to decide the game.

Wenger conceded he had not yet seen a replay of the incident, but felt sure there referee had made the correct call. "It is a relief, because we missed many chances and they had one or two opportunities having thrown everything forward," Wenger told Sky Sports. "Honestly, everyone is telling me it was a penalty, but I've not yet seen it again."  

"There was a long delay before Cazorla took the penalty, he did very well to score because he felt a heavy mental weight for the team. He played very well, because he helped us get back into the game after we started not fluent and not pacey. I also give Laurent Koscielny a lot of credit. He came back from Russia on Thursday and today he scored when we were 1-0 down. Fantastic."

Cazorla, meanwhile, admitted he did not know whether the referee got his call right, but was happy to take advantage. "I had a lot of time to think about where to shoot my penalty, but I kept calm," the Spaniard said. "I thought if I shot down the middle the keeper might go to one side. I have no idea if it was a foul."