“The team showed a lot of composure” – Arteta reacts to 3-1 win at Brentford

Mikel Arteta was delighted with the character of his Arsenal side as they came from behind to beat Brentford 3-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium.

In the absence of Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka, the manager was particularly pleased with the impact of Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli, who both got on the scoresheet either side of Mikel Merino’s strike.

Having gone behind on 13 minutes to Bryan Mbeumo’s solo effort, the Gunners showed real steel to wrestle back control of the game before killing it clinically before the hour-mark.

“We won in a really difficult stadium against a really good opponent, you see the record they have here, it’s incredible,” Arteta told TNT Sports.

“When you go one goal down it makes it even harder but the team showed a lot of composure, a lot of willingness to change the game, desire to do it in the way we have to do and how we came through difficult moments [was great], because they are going to happen.”

Arteta was particularly pleased with the way his side came out of the traps after the break, especially given he’d had to reshuffle his pack.

“We started really fast [in the second half], really aggressive and we were clinical,” he noted.

“And again, adapting. We had certain injuries, sickness in the team, we had to play other players, Ethan [Nwaneri] making his [full] debut at 17 in this stadium.

“He was really good, but in training, he gives us all the right reasons [to play him]. If we would have signed a player from any country he would [still] be playing, he’s an academy player, he needs to play because he deserves it.”

The manager was equally pleased with the way his side shared the goals, a hallmark of their play in recent seasons and a trait he hopes will help offset the absence of the talismanic Bukayo Saka. Gabriel Jesus made it six goals in four matches, while Martinelli notched his fifth and Merino his second of the campaign.

“It’s very important [to have Jesus scoring], we want our frontline in the best moment, today Martinelli scored, Mikel [Merino] scored from a set piece as well, we have to distribute the goals which we’ve done when you look at the year and how many people scored goals for us, that’s our strength.”

Arsenal are still tipped to strengthen their frontline this month although, as always, Arteta was non-committal when asked if transfers were on the agenda.

“At the moment, it [the priority] is to keep looking after our players, keep getting the best out of them. Let’s see, if there’s an opportunity, let’s look at it but at the moment the focus on our players and they are really good.”

Asked if the current form of his attackers suggests he may not need to spend any money, he continued,  “It depends on the game, depends if we score or not, the narrative, you know.

“I really like my players, I really value what we have because it’s a lot of quality, a lot of commitment, we’re really good with what we have.

As for whether Arsenal can make a real fist of a title-race that Liverpool threatens to run away with, he said: “We can only do what is in our hands which is to perform as best we can and win games. The rest isn’t anything to do with us.”