Mikel Arteta assessed a 1-0 win over West Ham for **Arsenal**that took them closer to the title.
There have been plenty of twists and turn in the fight for top spot in the Premier League, and the most decisive of all might have come on Sunday afternoon in East London. The league leaders asserted their points advantage at the summit through the most remarkable of circumstances.
‘I feel so happy, proud’
The Gunners have experienced an emotional week of football. After their 3-0 victory against **Fulham**last weekend, they watched Manchester City crack at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, falling behind 3-1 against **Everton**and scrambling to take a point through a Jeremy Doku injury time equaliser.
Buoyed by that pair of results, **Arsenal**approached the Champions League semi-final second leg at the Emirates Stadium against Atletico Madrid with extra confidence. They claimed a 1-0 victory thanks to a close-range Bukayo Saka strike, and success at the **London Stadium**ticks off another target.
The drama around this latest win was amped up by the decision to chalk off a Callum Wilson leveller at the death for a foul from **Pablo**on Raya. Having now pulled five points ahead of the Cityzens with this tight triumph, Arteta’s men are in a prime position to achieve something special by the end of May.
“What a moment, what an afternoon, what a week it's been for us, so full of emotions. I cannot praise enough the attitude, the desire, the courage and the quality of the team shown throughout this week because there was so much at stake.
“Today we knew against a team that is fighting for their life against a club has an incredible history, how tough it was going to be. I think we started the game so well, we created three big chances to go in front, and we didn't manage to do that, so we have to keep our heads cool.
“It’s only two games to go after that, and we have created some big chances and we didn't score, and the team had to stay cool. And I knew that they were going to have moments as well.
“They don't need much to create issues around your box with the players that they have and the set-up that they have. So, yeah, we navigated through that and I think it was a successful game.
“When I have to be critical, I have been, and today I have to praise them at least for giving the option to a referee to decide, away from the lights and the chaos, to give clarity to him to make the right call. When you look at the action in that way, I think it is an obvious error, and it is a free-kick and the goal has to be disallowed, so congratulations. They made a big call in very, very difficult circumstances.
“Probably today I have realised how difficult and how big a referee's job is. Because you're talking about a moment that can decide the history, the course of two massive clubs that are fighting with their lives to achieve their objectives, and the pressure is huge. It gives you a lot of choice.
“I feel so happy, so proud. Relieved as well. We knew the difficulty of the game, but we've done it. It's been a phenomenal week in every sense. What the team has done, the way we've played, the way we have approached games. Then what our supporters have done for us this season, all week and today as well. It's phenomenal. This changes the energy of the team and we have to live in the present now.”