Mikel Arteta hails Arsenal’s ‘massive’ win that means more than most

LONDON – Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hailed his team’s gritty 1-0 English Premier League victory over Crystal Palace as their most valuable of the season, praising his players’ resilience amid a relentless schedule and against a well-drilled side.

“Fully agree, I value more this victory than any other this season,” the Spaniard said after the win at the Emirates Stadium on Oct 26.

“Coming from playing every three days (

they beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Oct 21

and next play Brighton in the League Cup on Oct 29), you play against one of the teams I think is one of the best – when you lose that concentration, they can punish you.

“A massive win. We knew the difficulty of it.”

The victory, sealed by a stunning set-piece goal from Eberechi Eze against his former club, widened Arsenal’s lead at the top of the league table to four points. But Arteta was quick to temper any title talk.

“It’s very early, we’re still in October,” he insisted. “The emotional state is really high, but there are a lot of things to get better. Let’s try and recover for Wednesday.”

Rivals Manchester City and Liverpool both lost over the weekend, which contributed to Arsenal’s gap.

“It shows you how hard this league is,” Arteta added. “The players aren’t allowed their phones so I hope (that they weren’t following other results).

“We are where we are... It’s a credit to us because we have been very consistent. It doesn’t mean much other than we are doing a lot of things.”

The winner came from a set piece, an area Arsenal have clearly refined. They have a league-high 11 goals from dead-ball situations.

Eze, who spent five seasons at Selhurst Park before Arsenal signed him in August, struck in the 39th minute when Gabriel Magalhaes headed Declan Rice’s free kick into his path. The midfielder leapt to steer a first-time finish out of the air past Dean Henderson.

“We have noticed a shift, methods that are implemented that are more efficient,” Arteta said. “You can contain the spaces because you are better and we have to find a way to score in different ways.”

Meanwhile, City manager Pep Guardiola said his side were not aggressive enough as they succumbed to their first loss since August in their 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa, but he insisted his players were getting better.

City suffered back-to-back losses in August, but picked up 13 points in their next five league matches and went unbeaten in nine matches in all competitions before the defeat at Villa Park.

“We started a really good game. In general we were much better in the second half, but in the end we could not score,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.

“In the first half the pressing wasn’t good, in the second half it was better. We were not aggressive enough... we had the chances to score, we could not do it. We will improve.”

Guardiola, who has led City to six league titles since joining the club in 2016, said he was satisfied with his team’s performance despite the loss.

“I am satisfied. We played really good in the Premier League mainly and we’re getting better. We will learn from that. It is a long journey – we will try to be close at the end,” he added.

In another match, Thomas Frank earned a reputation as a set-piece mastermind at Brentford, and the Dane’s influence on his new club Tottenham Hotspur was clear for all to see as his side scored twice from corner routines in a 3-0 win at Everton.

According to Sky Sports, 19 per cent of all Premier League goals this season have been scored from corners while the number of goals from long throw-ins into the area is also on the rise.

Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven scored twice with close-range headers in the first half at Everton, the first from Mohammed Kudus’ corner which was knocked back into the six-yard area by Rodrigo Bentancur beyond the back post and the second from Pedro Porro’s wicked in-swinger.

Pape Matar Sarr headed a late third to secure the victory that lifted Spurs to third in the table.

Much of Tottenham’s play was ordinary, but they looked a real threat from set pieces.

Frank said it was an area that he highlighted before the start of the season with Andreas Georgson, the set-piece coach he used to work with at Brentford.

“We focused on set pieces at Brentford, but now all the big boys took it up – Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in the last couple of seasons,” he said.

“It’s such a key element. You need to get it right all the time if you want to achieve something. You need to do well in all areas of the game – set pieces, defending high, low, attacking.” REUTERS, AFP