Alcaraz leads charge of the young brigade

CARLOS ALCARAZ was only on the field for the first half last night. But the Argentine striker, the namesake of the US Open tennis champion, still hit the net as he served up a display which left Arsenal courting disaster.

The 20-year-old showed why Southampton have invested in the fearlessness of youth and that they could yet beat the odds and stay up after an unexpected point.

The lively Alcaraz gave Saints the lead after only 26 seconds when Aaron Ramsdale staged his David De Gea tribute act.

He then set up Theo Walcott with a stunning pass for the former Gunner to score only his second Premier League goal in nearly two years.

The former England winger (celebrating with Alcaraz, left) netted 108 goals during his 12 seasons at Arsenal, but none as important to a Gunners title bid than this one.

The Argentine, signed from Racing Club in January, got booked for a foul on Bukayo Saka and made a brilliant goalline clearance from Ben White’s flicked header, before he was replaced at the break.

In the last two windows under new owners Sport Republic, the Saints have brought in 15 new players while losing old heads like Shane Long, Oriol Romeu, and Nathan Redmond.

Southampton have a proven record of bringing new talent to the Premier League from Sadio Mane to Virgil van Dijk. The business plan is to buy young and sell high. This crop of players has lacked collective experience, but their young legs ran nervy Arsenal ragged.

Everything had gone Saints’ way until the late drama. Even when centre-back Jan Bednarek was reluctantly substituted with apparent concussion, his replacement Duje Caleta-Car headed in the third.

Southampton had gone six league games without a win, but their display offers renewed hope before the South Coast derby with Bournemouth on Thursday. Ruben Selles, their third head coach this season, has six games to make his name. Carlos Alcaraz is already a name we will not forget.