Mikel Arteta praises Arsenal's 'attitude' in victory over Chelsea
A nervy end to the match wasn't enough to dampen Mikel Arteta's spirits after Arsenal defeated Chelsea 1-0 on Sunday at Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners were dominant throughout the first half and Mikel Merino's 20th-minute header — the only goal of the game — probably should have been one of several times the home side scored in the opening 45 minutes based on the run of play.
However, Arsenal were only able to beat Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez once, allowing the Blues to hold out hope that an equaliser would eventually materialise. While that ultimately was not the case, the match ended in a narrower scoreline than may have been comfortable for the Premier League's second place club.
Regardless, Arteta was pleased with the performance ahead of a much-needed international break for the injury-riddled side.
"We did enough to deserve to win the game," the Arsenal boss told BBC Match of the Day. "Now we have the international break so let's take a chance to breathe and bring some players back hopefully.
"We weren't able to finish some of the actions. I really liked the attitude of the team."
While the Gunners are still well off the pace of league-leading Liverpool, Arteta's focus on the final portion of the campaign has not wavered.
"We have a few players [on break] and I will have a few days off and then prepare for the last sprint of the season," he said.
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