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Premier League, Emirates Stadium - Arsenal 6 (Hooiveld og 11, Podolski 31, Gervinho 35, 71, Clyne og 37, Walcott 88) Southampton 1 (Fox 45).

Arsenal benefited from two own goals and saw unlikely centre-forward Gervinho score twice as they hammered Southampton 6-1 at Emirates Stadium to go joint third in the Premier League.

Gervinho had not scored in 2012 but produced one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt when filling in for Olivier Giroud in attack, the Ivorian scoring with a firm finish after 35 minutes and a close-range shot in the second half.

Southampton, bottom of the Premier League having now lost four from four, found themselves 4-1 down at half-time with Jos Hooiveld and Nathaniel Clyne putting the ball into their own net and Lukas Podolski continuing his quick acclimatisation to English football with a lovely free kick.

Wojciech Szczesny's awful error allowed Saints to pull one back just before the break but Gervinho's second of the game killed off any hopes of an unlikely comeback and Theo Walcott added a sixth against his former side with two minutes remaining.

Arsenal chose to drop summer signing Giroud to the bench but Arsene Wenger surprisingly opted to leave Podolski wide on the left as Gervinho was tasked with playing through the centre. It was a role the Ivorian adopted at times during pre-season but never looked truly comfortable in. Still, the tactical tweak worked perfectly in a first half that Arsenal dominated comprehensively.

Podolski in particular was in fine form. The summer acquisition from Cologne was using the ball well and linking up with Santi Cazorla impressively again, while his physical strength also unsettled a Southampton defence that had already conceded eight goals in three games prior to Saturday.

It was Podolski's power that helped Arsenal open the scoring after only 11 minutes. Having been knocked to ground, he got up and outmuscled two men to regain the ball and dinked a neat pass to the left to find Kieran Gibbs. The left-back opted to shoot from a tight angle and when the ball popped up off Kelvin Davis, the luckless Hooiveld got his legs in a mess and knocked it over the line for a rather comical own goal.

Podolski - scorer of 44 goals in 103 caps for Germany - has been signed for his final product but initially it was his build-up play that caught the eye, another neat pass through for Gervinho allowing the forward to win a corner with a deflected shot. Davis flapped at the delivery but then made a neat save when Francis Coquelin chipped the ball back into the box to meet the head of Per Mertesacker.

Cazorla was fantastic again after his influential performance in a 2-0 win at Liverpool last time out, his close control exceptional, and an exchange of passes with Podolski on 24 minutes preceded a ball out to Gibbs that allowed the defender to cross for Gervinho. The unlikely centre-forward headed over.

Arsenal's pressure was relentless and they doubled their lead after 31 minutes with the first of three goals in seven minutes. Steven Davis was guilty of a clumsy challenge on Coquelin and Podolski punished him with a superb curling free kick from 25 yards, though the Saints goalkeeper should have got closer to the attempt.

Four minutes later it was three. Mikel Arteta spotted a clever run from Gervinho as the Ivorian spun away from substitute Maya Yoshida, a replacement for Hooiveld who had succumbed to injury. All too often Gervinho has lacked composure in front of goal but he claimed his first goal of 2012 with a rasping finish at the near post.

Gervinho was also involved in the fourth, too. He sprayed the ball out wide to Gibbs, who provoked a second own goal of the game when his low cross was turned past Davis by Clyne. Southampton had been eviscerated, but they were gifted a goal of their own just before half-time when Szczesny was guilty of a horrible lapse and spilled the ball to Fox, who drove the ball home from eight yards.

Saints made a change at the break as Davis was removed from the centre of midfield and Gaston Ramirez, a £12 million club record signing from Bologna, was introduced for his debut. The Uruguayan almost made an immediate impact, a curling shot with his left boot forcing Szczesny into action.

Ramirez then had a sight of goal and while his shot was dragged right across the face of goal, it found Rickie Lambert arriving at the back post and as the striker slid in to meet the ball he only succeeded in turning it wide of the far post.

Southampton enjoyed a much-improved spell as they began to hit a passing rhythm but Arsenal wrestled control of the game once again on 71 minutes. Cazorla found substitute Aaron Ramsey with a glorious pass off the outside of his right boot and the Welshman held off Nathaniel Clyne to drive into the box and poke a shot past Davis. It came off the base of the post but Gervinho was on hand to tuck it away for his second of the afternoon.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain almost made it six soon after when seeing a thumping drive tipped wide by Davis, before Arsenal opted to give Podolski and Gervinho a rest, the goalscorers replaced by Theo Walcott and Giroud.

With two minutes remaining, Walcott had a goal against his former side. Thomas Vermaelen saw an initial shot saved by Davis after driving upfield but Cazorla produced a little touch off to Walcott as Southampton failed to clear and the England international tucked the ball home to round off a dominant display.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Gervinho (Arsenal) – Tough to single out one player as Podolski was hugely influential in establishing Arsenal's early lead and Cazorla was as brilliant as ever, but purely for the fact that this was such a departure from the norm for Gervinho, he takes it.

Robin van Persie scored a hat-trick, including a stoppage time winner, as Manchester United snatched a 3-2 victory over Southampton in a rip roaring contest at St Mary's.

United trailed the match with just three minutes to go before a Van Persie double made up for an earlier penalty miss from the Dutchman when he was caught out for trying a cheeky chip.

His winner in stoppage time though was his 100th Premier League goal and made sure that Sir Alex Ferguson's 1,000th league game in charge of Manchester United would be a memorable one.

It was tough luck on Southampton though who played superbly for most of the contest and were twice in front but they remain without a point in this their first Premier League season for seven years.

United started the match the brighter side and dominated possession in the early exchanges but Southampton then started to come into it after a nervy opening 10 minutes and in the 16th minute they took the lead.

Shinji Kagawa, who struggled with the pace of the game at times, was caught in possession in midfield. The ball was eventually played out to Jason Puncheon on the left and he stood up a fine cross to the back post. Waiting there was Rickie Lambert who peeled onto the mismatched Rafael before guiding his header into the corner of the net.

United levelled just seven minutes later courtesy of a trademark finish from Van Persie. The Dutch striker took Antonio Valencia's cross from the right on his chest at the back post and then drilled the ball low into the opposite corner. He had all the time in the world to do so too after Nathaniel Clyne had slipped.

It wouldn't be the only time Clyne would lose balance in such a way either. He was lucky later in the half when Patrice Evra was able to get a header on target after Clyne again lost his footing with Kelvin Davis this time getting him out of jail with a decent save.

It was end to end stuff at times in the first half with both sides looking capable of adding more goals.

Adam Lallana was popping up everywhere for Southampton and was at the hub of most of their attacks while on a couple of occasions United nearly caught out Southampton with long balls over the top aimed at Van Persie.

The second half was similarly breathless and St Mary's was rocking again in the 55th minute when Southampton retook the lead.

Again it came from a header; this time Lambert was the provider as he curled a right-footed cross to the back post, Evra then slipped in similar fashion to Clyne earlier, allowing Morgan Schneiderlin to run in unchallenged and head into the corner of the net.

Southampton gifted United the chance to level in the 68th minute when, for the second time in the match, Kelvin Davis saw a poor pass out of his goal pounced upon by United. The ball was eventually played into Van Persie in the box and Jos Hooiveld foolishly brought him down from behind for a penalty.

But Van Persie showed he is not perfect with an ill-advised spot-kick. He tried to chip it into the corner in a lethargic, almost Panenka style, but Davis made up for his error by getting a hand on it and pushing it wide.

The game buzzed on with intensity and up until Nigel Adkins decided to take off his three dangerous attackers – Lallana, Lambert and Puncheon – in the final 15 minutes, Southampton looked as likely to score a third as United an equaliser.

However, United got on top of proceedings in the closing stages and Van Persie tapped home the equaliser from close range in the 88th minute after Rio Ferdinand had headed a Rafael cross off the post.

That seemed harsh enough on Southampton but the true dagger was to come in the second minute of stoppage time when Van Persie peeled away from the front post to angle a header superbly into the opposite corner from Nani's fine corner.

It was only Van Persie's second start in a United shirt but he has already netted four goals to take his total Premier League tally up to 100.

Fitness permitting there are sure to be many more goals to come from the Dutchman in a United shirt, but few are likely to be as dramatic as his late winner here.

Manchester City began their Premier League title defence with an exciting 3-2 win over newly-promoted Southampton at the Etihad Stadium.

David Silva had his first-half penalty saved before Carlos Tevez finally breached the Saints' back line five minutes before the break.

Rickie Lambert equalised as the hour mark approached before another Saints substitute, Steven Davis, repeated the trick midway through the half after a counter-attack sparked by a poor pass from new City signing Jack Rodwell.

Southampton's hopes of beating the champions upon their return to the Premier League after seven years away lasted all of four minutes before Edin Dzeko grabbed an equaliser. Samir Nasri then netted with 10 minutes remaining after a mistake by Danny Fox to register a win by the same scoreline as his team's last home game – the dramatic late victory over QPR which saw them claim the title.

The victory was another thrilling one for City fans to enjoy, but the main concern for those at the club will now be the welfare of Sergio Aguero. The striker, whose late goal on the final day won City the title last season, was stretchered off with a knee injury after a quarter of an hour following a challenge from Nathaniel Clyne.

City manager Roberto Mancini started with £12 million summer signing Rodwell alongside Yaya Toure in midfield, while Tevez started up front alongside Aguero.

Southampton manager Nigel Adkins pulled a couple of surprises with his first teamsheet as a top-flight manager, preferring Jay Rodriguez up front to last season's top scorer Lambert and handing a first league appearance to 17-year-old midfielder Jack Ward-Prowse.

That Argentine double act was broken up early on, however, when Aguero's run down the left was halted by a well-timed recovering tackle from Clyne, making his Southampton debut following his move from Crystal Palace. Aguero appeared to hurt his knee as the fair challenge was made, and after a few minutes of treatment he was taken away on a stretcher.

City confirmed after the match that Aguero would undergo an MRI scan to assess the extent of the damage, and they would have the result in a couple of days.

Mario Balotelli had initially been the player to warm up when Aguero first went down, but Mancini eventually brought on Dzeko instead.

Moments later Tevez won a penalty when he coaxed Jos Hooiveld into tripping him with a nimble turn inside the box. Silva was the man to place the ball on the spot, but his poor attempt had neither the power nor the placement to trouble Kelvin Davis.

Southampton centre-backs Hooiveld and Jose Fonte led the visitors' defence well, and there was a big question of offside when they were eventually beaten on 40 minutes. Tevez looked to be marginally past the last defender as he began his chase for Nasri's clipped ball down the left, but there was no questioning the clinical near-post finish the striker dispatched.

As City began the second half just as dominantly, Adkins rolled the dice and brought on the striker whose goals had been such a major part of the club reaching the top flight via back-to-back promotions. Lambert took just three minutes to open his Premier League account when he instinctively pounced on a loose ball on the edge of a box and curled a fine finish out of Joe Hart's reach.

Adkins then followed that change with another by bringing on former Aston Villa and Fulham midfielder Steven Davis, a summer acquisition from Rangers who had more Premier League experience than anyone else at the club. The Northern Irishman took even less time to get on the scoreboard when he lashed home a low strike past the England keeper on 68 minutes.

Mancini responded by finally introducing Balotelli with 18 minutes left, and immediately following that change Dzeko levelled after Yaya Toure's shot from range following a corner fell kindly for him to finish from close range.

After a frenetic period of end-to-end action the match was settled by an unfortunate error from Fox, who inexplicably headed Gael Clichy's cross back across goal allowing Nasri to finish for the winner on 80 minutes.

Adkins brought on Billy Sharp but he could not make it a hat-trick of scoring substitutions, but even in defeat he and his side can take many positive points from their visit to the champions after seven years out of the top flight. The real hard work for them will start next Saturday when they host Wigan Athletic at St Mary's.