Arteta bemoans missed chances, but impressed by “superb” performance in Naples
Arsenal kicked off their Champions League campaign with an impressive 1-0 win over Napoli, although manager Mikel Arteta admitted the margin of victory should have been much greater.
The Gunners enjoyed more than 57 per cent possession and registered 26 efforts on goal, eight of them on target, but their finishing left plenty to be desired. Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka missed gilt-edged chances in the first half, while Piero Hincapie somehow cleared the bar from only a couple of yards with the goal gaping.
In the end, it did not matter. Player of the Match Martin Odegaard showed his teammates how it was done, hammering the ball in off the post after being teed up by substitute Christos Tzolis. Late on, Noni Madueke missed a one-on-one and Kai Havertz had a goal ruled out for offside as the Gunners tried, and failed, to extend their lead.
“I think we fully deserve three points,” Arteta told TNT Sports.
“I don’t know the amount of chances and situations we generated. But I think the performance probably doesn’t reflect the results.
“I think it should have been much bigger in a really tough environment, [against a] really tough opponent. I think the team was superb.”
Asked what impressed him most, the manager said: “Everything. The way we competed, the attitude, the courage, the way we imposed ourselves in the game.
“The quality that we showed in a lot of moments to break them down, which is very difficult to do. It was a shame because we missed so many big chances.”
With the game still goalless, Arteta was a constant presence on the touchline, urging his players forward and living every miss.
At times, it looked as though he might lose his patience, but his constant instructions eventually paid dividends.
On what he told his players, he said: “To insist and generate more. That’s what we have to do.
“And it’s great that a lot of players, very different players, got in those [goal-scoring] situations. Any other day the result will be different.”
So, the first of four consecutive away games across three competitions has set the tone. The turnaround before our trip to Sunderland is tight, but the levels have been set. This was a good night for the Gunners, who played with the swagger and maturity befitting one of the favourites.
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