“There were moments we had to suffer”: Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta after win over Manchester City
Following his team's 1-0 win against Manchester City in the PL match at Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said that there were moments when the home team had to suffer, but they showed real determination till the end.
London: Following his team’s 1-0 win against Manchester City in the Premier League (PL) match at Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said that there were moments when the home team had to suffer, but they showed real determination till the end.
“A great feeling obviously, you could sense it’s been so many years without beating them and today we have beaten in my opinion without a question of doubt the best team in the world, and we have done it in a great way, there were moments we had to suffer, but as well moments we showed real determination, desire and belief to beat them, so really happy,” Mikel Arteta said at the post-match press conference, according to Arsenal website.
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“Certainly sends a message to the team, keep believing in what they are doing, they are a fantastic group of players, the way they try, the understanding, the chemistry that they have between them you sense it and you need it to beat that, today again really proud, I was proud on Wednesday when we lost the game, and I am really proud again today as well to be part of that team,” Arteta added.
The head coach praised Manchester City team for its abilities and said his team players took on the pressure.
“The players have to stand up there and execute against players that are top quality, and we give them something in the first two minutes with the corner and they almost score a goal, you can not give them anything, they can still earn it because they are top quality and can produce those moments in any moment, we have discussed a lot about that, it is stressful because they change constantly, the spaces, rotations, they are constantly threatening you in certain areas and you have to be really really aware of what they are doing to try to match it up, and with the ball as well, because they are provoking you with certain things and you have to be patient and for that bit.
“Today was top because I knew the crowd could react in the way that it did, it’s what we demanded to do and what we needed to do and we did it better in the second half, we did it much better and I think it was really helpful,” Arteta added.
Talking about the match, both Arsenal and Manchester City were goalless in the first half even though Pep Guardiola’s side created many goal-scoring chances in the game but still failed to get the back of the net.
Soon after the second half kicked off, Arsenal’s Martinelli came close to scoring a goal but City’s Ederson saved the Gunners’ first shot on target of the game.
Arsenal continued creating chances in the second half. In the 75th minute of the game, the Brazilian forward Martinelli kept the ball to Odegaard but the Norwegian midfielder could not keep the shot on target and went over the post.
However, in the 86th minute of the game, Arsenal found the first breakthrough of the game after Gabriel Martinelli curled his left-footed shot that went into the bottom-left corner. The City goalkeeper had no chance to save it as he already dived on the other side.
Following their win against City, Arsenal stands in second place in the Premier League table with 20 points after playing eight league matches.
In their upcoming match, the Gunners will face Chelsea on October 21 at Stamford Bridge in London.
