Mikel Arteta had plenty of reasons to be happy after witnessing his side take apart Crystal Palace on another high-scoring away day.
It was fitting that our final away game of 2024 should yield five more goals – that’s the sixth time in the calendar year we have managed that on our travels, becoming the first top-flight side to achieve that feat in English football history.
“I think nobody else has done it, no? Ever. So it is a big achievement,” the boss said after the game. “It’s not a title. So let's put all these records that this team is achieving into the big things that we want.
“It’s a great day,” he added, "at a really tough place to come. We’ve played them twice in three days. That makes it really tricky, but overall, I’m really happy to win 1-5 away from home. Scoring the goals that we scored, the way we performed again consistently. A lot of positives to take."
The boss also had special praise for Gabriel Jesus, who made it five goals in two games with a brace to follow up his hat-trick against the same opposition on Wednesday night.
“I’m so happy, he fully deserves it,” Arteta said. “He's been so consistent, his work ethic, he's been patient, you know? And at the end, a lot of the things that we have seen here happened actually in July, and some changes that he made and a lot of things that we discussed together.
“So, it’s a great sign and we're really happy to have him back.”
There was one blot on the evening’s work though, when Bukayo Saka was taken off in the first half, appearing to hold his thigh.
“Well, he could not continue, obviously,” Mikel explained. “We have to now be calm. Do all the tests, understand what is it, the extent of that injury, but there is no good news because we lost Raheem as well yesterday.”
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