“A great squad performance” – Arteta reacts to win over Aston Villa

Mikel Arteta was full of praise for his players, particularly the contribution of his “finishers”, after Arsenal battled their way to a 1-0 win at Aston Villa.

A turgid first half produced little of note at either end, but the game opened up after the break and Arsenal found the breakthrough on the hour. Substitute Eberechi Eze released Riccardo Calafiori down the left and the Italian’s teasing ball across the six-yard box was turned home from close range by Bukayo Saka.

After being thrashed 4-0 at Brighton last weekend, Villa looked far more like the side Arsenal have struggled against in recent seasons. Unai Emery’s players were organised out of possession, aggressive in midfield and did a good job of disrupting the Gunners’ rhythm.

Arsenal weren’t always convincing with the ball, but the quality available from the bench ultimately helped swing the game in their favour. Bruno Guimaraes added some much-needed composure after replacing Myles Lewis-Skelly, Eze played a key role in the winner and Ezri Konsa looked assured on his debut after coming on for Cristhian Mosquera.

“I’m really happy, it’s a massive win,” Arteta told Sky Sports.

“It’s a tough place to come. And then the three points, I think we deserved it. We had a great squad performance, I would say, because with eleven [players] it wasn’t enough, the finishers came in and did a magnificent job to finish off the game and win it. I know how tough it is to win here.”

Arteta certainly wasn’t surprised by Villa’s response to their difficult afternoon on the south coast.

“What they’ve done in the last four years. Every big team struggles against them because they are so good.

“They are really well-coached. They have great players. They have a great crowd. They generate momentum. They are great in transition moments. The moment you allow them to run and lose the ball inside is a team that is really dangerous. But I liked a lot of the things that I saw from my team.”

Those transition moments became more frequent as the game stretched, but Arsenal dealt with them impressively. Players repeatedly recovered in numbers, tracked runners and regrouped quickly, ensuring David Raya was never seriously troubled.

There was perhaps some added determination after what happened on Arsenal’s previous visit to Villa Park, when a late goal condemned them to a painful defeat. It hadn’t been forgotten.

“Last year we lost here in a really difficult way in the last kick of the game. That was still in the tummy.”

This time, Arteta had considerably more firepower at his disposal. With only William Saliba and Jurrien Timber sidelined by injury, Arsenal’s bench was stacked with quality and five internationals were introduced during the second half. They were needed too, with the Gunners forced to negotiate nearly 10 minutes of stoppage time, seemingly added following VAR checks on a couple of penalty decisions.

Arteta was delighted with the response of those he called upon.

“Very good. Ebz created the action that won us the game – an assist [by Calafiori] for Bukayo.

“We brought Bruno first with Mikel [Merino] in midfield and they changed the dynamic of it. It was great.

“Ezri as well, really composed, really calm with every decision that he made. And then Zubi when he came in, I’m really happy with all of them. That’s what we need.”

Attention now turns to a mouthwatering Sunday showdown with Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea. It will be the first time Arteta has faced his childhood friend competitively as a manager and promises to be an intriguing meeting between the league’s best defence and an attack that has started the season firing on all cylinders.

Before then, Arteta was happy to savour three hard-earned points from a ground that has caused Arsenal plenty of problems in recent years.

“We are in the second game, and it’s like we have to win this game – we know that, last year was the same,” he said.

“We know the level. We know how difficult it is for every team to earn points in this league. So we have to be really proud tonight.”

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