Clean sheets and bench strength boosting Arsenal, Mikel Arteta says
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta during his side's Champions League match against Olympiacos.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Arsenal’s beefed-up bench strength and habit of keeping clean sheets are putting the club in position for another good run in the Champions League, manager Mikel Arteta said on Oct 1, after his team battled past Greek side Olympiakos 2-0.
Gabriel Martinelli pounced to convert a rebound in the 12th minute to reward the Gunners’ early domination, but they missed a host of chances before a stoppage-time effort by substitute Bukayo Saka sealed the win.
“We had another two to three big chances and if you don’t put them away in this competition, you have to be careful,” Arteta said.
Olympiakos boasted an enviable record against Arsenal, winning on their last three visits to the Emirates, and the Greek team recovered from their early setback to make it an uncomfortable night at times for the hosts.
Arteta said his side would have scored more had it not been for some outstanding saves from Olympiakos goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis, but also pointed to his side’s 11 clean sheets in their last 14 matches. That statistic refers to fixtures in the English Premier League and Champions League league phase, excluding last season’s knockout ties.
Having spent over £250 million (S$434.4 million) on new players in the close-season, the Arsenal boss also has much greater depth to his squad than at any time since he took charge in 2019.
On Oct 1, he brought on five substitutes and made six changes from the side who came from behind to snatch a late 2-1 Premier League away win against Newcastle United
“We had the feeling as well that physically we were dropping because we played a really intense match in Newcastle a few days ago,” Arteta added.
“The ones that came in again, they lifted the level, they helped us to win the game.”
One of the players who came off was key defender Gabriel Magalhaes, but Arteta said it was a precautionary move and that the Brazilian should be fine for the Premier League game against West Ham United on Oct 4.
He also praised new striker Viktor Gyokeres’ work rate despite the Swede not scoring in his last five matches.
“We want him to be scoring goals, but if he doesn’t do that, at least to do everything else he is doing for the team, because he’s helping the team a lot,” Arteta said.
Apart from the three points, the biggest plus for Arsenal was the sight of captain Martin Odegaard back pulling the strings after a season so far disrupted by niggling injuries.
Elsewhere, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was generally pleased with his team’s performance, even though they were held 2-2 away by Monaco in the Champions League on Oct 1.
Eric Dier’s late penalty handed the home side a draw, as an Erling Haaland double was not enough to give Guardiola’s men victory.
The Norwegian netted twice in the first half for City, either side of a Jordan Teze stunner, taking his tally for the season to 11 goals in eight games in all competitions.
It looked as though the 2023 European champions would leave the principality with a second win in as many outings in this season’s league phase, but they were denied by a 90th-minute spot kick.
“That was a good game. We created a lot of chances,” Guardiola said. “We concede the penalty... but if you analyse the game, in many things it was really good.” REUTERS, AFP
