Mikel Arteta praised his team’s composure as Arsenal came from behind to beat Southampton 3-1 at the Emirates to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 16 games.
The Gunners enjoyed near-total domination in the first half but couldn’t break through a stubborn Saints defence, marshalled by former Gunner Aaron Ramsdale. They then had to respond to the shock of falling behind when Cameron Archer gave the visitors a surprise lead on 53 minutes.
To their credit, Arsenal quickly regained control, with Kai Havertz equalising just four minutes later, before substitute Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka both found the net
After the game Mikel Arteta told Sky Sports: “It was an unbelievable first half, again very similar to Leicester [last week], total dominance, chance after chance, corners and pieces arrived in the zones.
“They managed to score the goal, I don’t know how. You go, nil-nil and you start the second half giving some simple balls away and give them a little bit of belief and then they scored the goal and then it’s game on and everything that was in the first half is thrown away again and you have to beat [them] from that.
“Then the team reacted incredibly well, a lot of composure, very reassured that we are capable of doing it again. The crowd was amazing again and, yeah, happy day again.
Asked about the character of his side and the way they rebuilt momentum after falling behind, he replied: “I think belief and obviously experiences that have been positive [helped].
“We’ve had to deal with a lot of issues in the last three to four weeks. A lot of injuries, an unbelievable fixture list with seven games and four away, very difficult ones, as well, and we managed to win five to draw two, to play with ten men twice and still have a great results, so really good.”
While the decision to hand starts to Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus, at the expense of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard, was somewhat understandable given his side’s recent schedule, there’s no doubt Arsenal looked more disjointed than in the last two fixtures. Thankfully, the Gunners have a world-class matchwinner in the shape of Bukayo Saka who laid on two assists before killing the game in the final stages.
“I think, Bukayo was involved in the three goals. And again, the subs make a huge impact. To be fair, the starting 11, the way we started, it was so good. We needed energy, we needed a different dynamic to change the game. We absolutely brought it and again those connections and that belief is key to keep winning games.”
Keep playing Havertz in the midfield and this season will end the same way last season did.
Jesus is not at our level anymore. Keep Havertz up top and for god’s sake, give Nwaneri chances as an 8 until Odegaard is back. Stop trying to shoehorn players in.
So happy for ‘Nelli. Electric pace, great goal.
Hope Jesus and Sterling can get back to form, very poor in the first half, we picked up substantially once we made the substitutions.