The Gunners boss demanded that his players carry the momentum into Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg clash against Atletico Madrid, with the tie finely poised at 1-1.
Arsenal arguably chose the best time to find their free-flowing attacking rhythm after a barren run in front of goal hadn’t seen Arteta’s side score more than once in any fixture since the 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on March 17.
Bukayo Saka’s return to the starting line-up allowed the Gunners to stretch Fulham, and the England winger terrorised Cottagers left-back Antonee Robinson, scoring one and setting up another for Viktor Gyökeres, who scores twice himself.
“It says to us, and toward our dressing room, that we keep the dream alive, that what these guys have done, not now, but throughout the season to win that many games in the circumstances that we had to do it without so many players available at times, is remarkable, so it's great,” said Arteta.
“It was a critical game, because we know the importance of the win and the manner that we’ve done it and the goal difference in the Premier League. This game was going to carry a lot of energy towards the next game, and it’s certainly going to do that.
“Now we have one of the biggest games in the history of this stadium for sure on Tuesday in front of our people, and we’re going to try to make it happen.”
Arteta cannot hide from the fact that he must be feeling the heat of Pep Guardiola and Manchester City breathing down their necks. The win over Fulham saw the league leaders stretch their advantage at the summit to six points beyond their title rivals, who have played two games more.
With Guardiola taking his team to Merseyside on Monday night to face Everton, Arteta was asked whether he would be watching. “Yes, because I love football,” he admitted. “There’s so much at stake, so yeah, I will be there.”
Having clicked into gear at just the right time with three games remaining and a potential Champions League final on the horizon for the first time in 20 years, the goalscoring feats of Viktor Gyökeres haven't gone unnoticed.
The Swedish striker has 21 goals this season – the most any Arsenal player has scored in a single season since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2019/2020.
“He had a really good performance. I think in Madrid, especially in the first half, he was really good, and today,” Arteta said. “He was in every action, every attacking action he was involved in. He scored two great goals. Position-wise and timing-wise as well, which is something that we’ve been working on. It’s going to give him a big boost of energy to him and confidence to the team as well.”
Before Arsenal host Atletico on Tuesday, Arteta has a decision to make about the construct of his midfield. Myles Lewis-Skelly started next to Declan Rice against Fulham and delivered an outstanding performance to give the Arsenal boss a selection headache ahead of the clash with the Spanish giants.
Speaking on the performance of the 19-year-old, the Arsenal manager revealed: “I’ve been tough on him. He had a spectacular season last year when he jumped into the first team. He had some difficult moments after that, but he stayed very humble, very focused and very aligned with what we wanted to do. I knew he was ready (to play against Fulham).”
Arsenal play host to Diego Simeone’s side on Tuesday for a place in the Champions League final before travelling to east London to face a West Ham side on Sunday who are fighting to retain their Premier League status.