EPL win over Bournemouth a sign of leaders Arsenal’s ‘growth’, says Mikel Arteta
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Arsenal's Declan Rice celebrates scoring their second goal.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Mikel Arteta said that Arsenal’s resilience to fight back from conceding early to beat Bournemouth 3-2 on Jan 3 is a sign of his side’s growth, as they aim to end a 22-year wait to win the English Premier League.
The Gunners moved six points clear of Aston Villa at the top of the table and seven ahead of Manchester City, who host Chelsea in their game in hand on Jan 4 – that match kicked off after press time.
A rare error from Gabriel Magalhaes gifted Bournemouth an early lead, scored by Evanilson, but the Brazilian centre-back quickly made amends at the other end of the Vitality Stadium to equalise.
A second-half double from Declan Rice then secured the three points, despite a stunning strike from Eli Junior Kroupi to give the Cherries hope late on.
“They are so good. (We) made it even harder for ourselves conceding the first goal, but I love the character of the team,” said Arteta.
“I love the character of Gabriel. The way he overcame that situation, it’s just unbelievable. It says a lot about how much we’ve grown. The team found a way to beat them and it’s a massive win.”
Rice, 26, had been an injury doubt after missing the midweek 4-1 thrashing of Villa
Arteta said that the England international midfielder had pushed himself to return to the starting line-up and was vital to the Gunners by doubling his goal tally for the season.
“He has stretched himself to the very limit and the team were rewarded with two great goals,” the Spaniard added.
“I think it’s the first time he’s scored two in a Premier League game, so yes a great day to remember.”
Arsenal now have 15 wins from their first 20 league games, but the Gunners boss is looking only forward.
“We have to keep going. We have a lot of records now in our history, but I think we want to translate that to what’s going to happen in May and that’s a long way away,” he said.
“So we need to stay focused on what we’re doing, learn from every game, keep improving as a team and make sure that everybody is very connected to give the team what it needs.”
Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Wanderers finally ended the worst winless run from the start of a Premier League season with a 3-0 victory over fellow strugglers West Ham United.
No wins from their opening 19 games of the campaign had set an unwanted record for Wolves, surpassing the 17-game winless start of Sheffield United in the 2020-21 season.
But after an encouraging 1-1 draw at Manchester United in midweek, earning them their third point of the season, Wolves outplayed woeful West Ham to spark joyous scenes at Molineux.
Jhon Arias slid in to put the hosts in front after four minutes and Wolves doubled their lead when Hwang Hee-chan converted a penalty just past the half-hour mark.
Teenager Mateus Mane made it 3-0 in the 41st minute with a low drive as West Ham crumbled.
“I feel good. It’s probably a bit of relief and I’m really pleased,” said Wolves boss Rob Edwards.
“But I realise it’s only one win, and that’s all it is. It’s been a good day, so I’ll enjoy it, but realise why we won a game of football, and I think it’s because we’re building, we’re progressing, we’re getting better.”
In other news, Strasbourg coach Liam Rosenior insisted on Jan 3 that there was “nothing concrete” about the reports linking him with the Chelsea job – his latest comments on the matter – after his team’s 1-1 draw at Nice in Ligue 1.
“I want to focus on Strasbourg and not other things at the moment,” the 41-year-old Englishman told reporters.
“That’s all the information I can give you today. We don’t know what will be done tomorrow, but at the moment, there’s nothing concrete... there may be interest, we’ll see. Like I said before, if something happens, it happens. At the moment, nothing has happened.”
AFP, REUTERS
