Mikel Arteta hailed a job well done as Arsenal wrapped up their Champions League group campaign with a 2-1 win over Girona.
Jorginho’s penalty and a superb strike from man-of-the-match Ethan Nwaneri turned things around after Arnaut Danjuma’s opener, though the Gunners had VAR to thank for chalking off a second-half equaliser. In a lively contest, Raheem Sterling had the chance to put the game to bed late on but fluffed his lines from the spot.
Speaking to Arsenal.com, Arteta said of the win: “That was exactly what we wanted – to finish winning and with a good taste.
“We talked about consistency and earning the right to win football matches, and I think today we deserved to win the game again. But it shows you how difficult it is to win in the Champions League. We knew coming here we were going to have to suffer at times, and we’ve done it. I think attacking we produced a lot today and I’m very happy overall.
“We managed to give games to players that deserve it, for example Neto, and we have been able to give some minutes to certain players that really needed it, and rest some others. There’s no injuries and a good result, so very positive all round.”
The boss also had positive words for Nwaneri who became the second-youngest Englishman to score in the Champions League, doing so on his first start in the competition.
“I’m really impressed,” said the Spaniard. “Making his debut as a Champions League starter today and scoring the goal that he scored, especially in a very important moment. His influence, his composure on the ball and how aggressive he is when he gets it, it’s impressive.”
In a separate interview with BBC Sport, Arteta was pressed on Arsenal’s January transfer plans and links with Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins who has reportedly been the subject of a rebuffed bid.
The England international netted for Villa this evening as they beat Celtic 4-2 and his manager Unai Emery appeared to issue a hands-off warning to the Gunners by saying, “Watkins is our striker.”
“I can’t talk about any of that,” said Arteta. “My confidence is that we have an amazing club with people always working to try and improve. Let’s see what happens.”
Tonight’s win confirms that Arsenal finished third out of 36 teams in the Champions League group phase meaning we escape a knockout round play-off double-header. When we return to the competition in March, we’ll face one of AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord or Juventus.
A juicy tie awaits, but for now, attention returns to the Premier League and the small matter of Manchester City’s visit to the Emirates on Sunday.
£60m on a 29 year old. 🤔
Surely £59m after that penalty
hope not
Surprised by the relatively negative reaction to the Watkins link. My thoughts all along were I’d be over the moon with Mbeumo. To be honest I’d be even happier with Watkins. An out and out striker in the peak of his prime, Premier League proven and an Arsenal fan to boot. Don’t think we’ll get him now that Duran is leaving unfortunately.
Hope wherever Duran is going there’s another player named Duran. That way they can call themselves… wait for it… Double Duran!
Duran Duran
Oh Glenn no.
Watkins isn’t going to improve with age, and he’ll command big wages, plus have zero resale if he’s shit, so that’s probably why the reaction is mixed.
Third placed. Not by any means luck we r there. Well done boys, we’ve shown we can compete at this level definitely improved from last year. With Ben White still to come back and the arrival of Watkins, I see us keeping close to the title leaders. Anything can happen, just need to keep winning.
I haven’t seen Watkins play sufficiently to have any opinion on the transfer. But if the reports are true and we actually have this mount of money to spend, it’s great news (for this window or for the summer).
Net0, ie Net-zero raised the temperature with that positioning for their opener.
he did pretty well in the 2nd half to be fair, perhaps wouldn’t judge him too heavily for not being the sharpest in the first half he’s ever played in an Arsenal shirt
He tried to save the shot. Luckily he didn’t get there otherwise he would’ve been sent off
Some stats regarding Watkins:
https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/big_chance_missed
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/top-scorers
We sure do need a striker but 60m on a 29-year-old is not ideal. If it’s not doable now, I would wait for Sesko or Gyökeres in the summer. Why not Rashford on loan if a body is what we need? at 60m on Watkins even as a fan of Arsenal that he is, is too much and that would mean we ain’t getting either of the two hottest strikers out there. Infact we can we even try Evan Ferguson from Brighton, he had a decent season a year or so ago surely can add something to the top while we… Read more »
Watkins is much better than Sesko or Gyokeres. He is premier league proven. He’s the real deal. They are just potential. Further, at 29 he should be at his peak as a striker.
At the peak at another club, he joins us and needs to adapt, Mikel Moreno is an example. Besides there are not many years at the top left for him.
I for one hope Villa stands firm and we don’t get him. I get the need for quick fixes but 60m is too much for a soon-to-be-done player. We do need a loan signing just a stopgap for now.
Washford?? That was my auto-correct, and I thought it apt. Never in an Arsenal shirt. Whatever a player’s circumstances, if he’s not training at 100% effort, he’s not playing.
Hard to believe that Arsenal made this sort of bid without some serious encouragement. Further, AV has shown it will sell marque players (Douglas Luiz!) At 29, Watkins is now a wasting asset, but Arsenal could get 3 – 4 years of him at his peak. Think it’s going to happen.
I’m really not sure on Watkins. I know he’s a good player, I know he improves us in the short term but at 29 and really with only one relatively prolific season, it feels like a quick fix. I would still hope to see another signing in the summer if he does come and thus the outlay seems quite steep. He could be a useful second striker option. His numbers aren’t bad at all, just not amazing but better than most. I would enjoy taking one of Villa’s best players off them though, because their fans have become a bunch… Read more »
Villa fans have always been snide pricks.
I can’t stand them and take great satisfaction knowing they have to go back to that shit hole Birmingham every time they visit the Arsenal.
The Watkins bid is somewhat bizarre. Not that he’s a bad player, far from it, but Villa will lose Dhuran. So what are the chances they’ll let Watkins go, unless it’s for a ridiculous sum? It almost, ALMOST, looks like a feint so the club can say “We tried”. Far fetched, I understand. I’m also reading that a second bid is in the works as well. Who know with these reports?..
First bid was before we know anything about Al Nassr bid for Duran: We have already knew for West Ham. So, we thought they might sell older player and keep Duran.
I don’t think clubs operate like that and I don’t think if we don’t get Watkins any fan is gonna sit there and say “ah we tried” it’ll be “why did we leave it so late?” Or “why didn’t we go for x?” Doesn’t benefit anyone to be making fake bids.
If Watkins was any good, we’d have dropped points away at Villa.
Considering our record with ‘slightly long in the tooth’ players from other UK clubs (Sterling, Luiz, Willian, etc) I am apprehensive. Equally, people are talking like 29 makes him geriatric….if it gets us over the line and wins us either the league or the CL, it would be worth the money, and let’s be honest, our current set of strikers aren’t winning us those trophies.
Come the summer, we’d be underwhelmed and wondering why we blew the chance to sign a top striker. I don’t want anything to stop the move for Sesko in 5 months time.
A loan to get through the rest of the season is what we require. We missed out on Muani, but there has to be someone else.
Just read Tim Stillman’s article and I had to shout this out brillant line – please be true….
“I am pretty certain that ‘Magalhães’ is Portuguese for ‘Keown.”