Mikel Arteta: Arsenal 'had to be more convincing' to beat Man City
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta knows that his side’s 1-0 win over Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday is a big one.
Apologies to the Community Shield win in August, but Arteta finally got one over on his mentor, Pep Guardiola, and Arsenal is back in front of Manchester City on the Premier League table.
Again, it's a big one.
"Not just for me but everybody," Arteta told NBC's pitchside crew after the game. "You play against the best team in the world without a question, without a doubt, in my opinion, and beat them, I'm really happy obviously."
[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]
And Arteta said Sunday's win doesn't happen the way it did, with the Gunners grinding out one goal and keeping a clean sheet in a slog, without the previous setbacks against the three-time defending champions.
"When we lost at the Etihad, it was very important to go through that pain," Arteta said. "To beat them in the Community Shield as well, you have to go through. It could be different [in the future] but at the moment it's special."
Arteta agreed with Graeme Le Saux that Arsenal seized the game in the second half with some changes to their aggression plan.
"We were struggled in the first 35 minutes to occupy the right spaces," he said. "At halftime, we adjusted and we were really efficient. You have to win the ball because against that team they can play you out and run you out of spaces. ... We had to be more aggressive and more convincing, take more initiative with the ball."
Arsenal's level with Tottenham on 20 points. The rivals have the same goal differential, but Tottenham's scored more goals. It's going to be a fun fight for the crown.
Mikel Arteta praises the, uh, fortitude of David Raya, Gabriel Martinelli
Speaking to Sky Sports (transcribed by the BBC), Arteta also dropped a couple of quip-worthy lines when asked about the performances from goalkeeper David Raya and Gabriel Martinelli.
Raya had to shake off some early nervy moments, but gathered himself together to blank Man City, while Martinelli was fantastic throughout his substitute performance (including, of course, his deflected game-winner).
Here's what he said about their, er, guts.
"[Raya] was excellent. The way he controlled the ball. How dominant the was and how high he played. I love players with courage and David certainly has big ones."
On Martinelli: "Another player with big ones too. The physios weren't having it and he said 'I am ready to go'. [Leanrdro Trossard] got injured and I looked to him and he was already ready to go."
