‘The club is like a family and I love this’

Bernd Leno had only been on the pitch for six and a half minutes. Watford were awarded a second-half free-kick, Jose Holebas curled it in and Troy Deeney met it with a volley.

The ball looked destined for the bottom corner but, at full stretch, our goalkeeper got enough of a touch on the shot to divert it wide. That proved to be a crucial stop as Craig Cathcart’s own goal and a Mesut Ozil strike soon after gave us our fifth straight Premier League win.

• Four things we noticed from the game
• See why Holding praised Leno post-match
• Read our report from Emirates Stadium

After the game, Leno spoke to Arsenal Player to discuss his Premier League debut and settling in at Arsenal.

on making his PL debut…

It was a difficult start when you don’t think you’re going to play and then Petr is injured – I hope he will get well soon. It was a good game for me with a difficult start, but I think that I made some good saves and we kept a clean sheet, so I’m happy with my first game in the Premier League.

on what was going through his mind at half-time…

You can think too much, but I have to warm up to concentrate on the game. I was good in the game, so it was good for my feeling for my self-confidence. I had a solid game.

on whether playing in other competitions helped to make today easier…

Yes of course! I think for me everything is new, the club, the country and the football a little bit, so the two games in the Carabao Cup and the Europa League were very good for me to improve and get the confidence because goalkeepers are in a special position. You need a feeling with your defence and your players, so it takes some games. Those two games were very important for me.

on how he’s settled into the Arsenal set up…

Of course I didn’t play so many games, but my feeling was very good and I feel like the team is very nice. The club is like a family and I love this, so let’s keep this going on.