Mikel Arteta hailed a ‘massive victory’ for Arsenal after his side beat Manchester United 2-0 at the Emirates.
Jurrien Timber and William Saliba scored the goals in North London as Arsenal continued their fine form since returning from the international break. The Gunners were a huge threat from set-pieces all evening and got their rewards from practice on the training ground.
The win saw Arsenal reduce the gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool to seven points, after the latter were held at Newcastle United on Wednesday night.
Arteta was delighted with the performance from his team, as Arsenal recorded a fourth consecutive league victory over Manchester United for the first time.
“It’s good for everything that we can contribute to make this club bigger and better and more efficient – that’s what we are trying to do,” he said post-match. “It’s a very special night against an opponent with a lot of history.
“I think the team was excellent, the energy in the stadium was amazing, so I’m very happy to celebrate that day with a massive victory for us. A fourth win in a row in a really convincing way, scoring two goals and not conceding a goal with a lot of players that haven’t played that much, but showed me again and the team that they are ready when needed.”
Arteta ‘grateful’ for Arsenal defenders Kiwior and Zinchenko
Arteta reserved praise of Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko, who came into the side for the injured Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori to help the Gunners to a clean sheet.
“The way they train every single day and it’s not easy – for Jakub it was his first Premier League start, and it was Alex’s second [this season] after the first game here against Wolves. They both performed at the highest level against this kind of opposition, after not playing a lot, is very tough. So, very pleased and grateful for them.
“You really need to dig in against this kind of opposition. We tweaked a few things at half-time, the team had a bit more clarity, a bit more efficiency, we did the simple things much better, and the game opened up a little bit more. We had some big chances in open play and then we scored from two set pieces.
“We haven’t conceded anything and on that action that comes from a throw-in that we don’t execute well, we gave the foul away and then they create the chance and David (Raya) is there to save us.”
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