We moved within two points of the Premier League’s summit thanks to Tuesday night’s hard-fought 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest - a victory that left Mikel Arteta “really happy”.
Second-half strikes from Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka put us firmly in control at the City Ground before Taiwo Awoniyi’s late goal set up a nervy finish.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Arsenal manager discussed the nature of his team’s display.
“I'm really happy with the performance and with the result,” he said. “It was still in our tummy, what happened here last year, and we wanted to put it right.
“We want to generate some momentum now in the league. I think we've got that and the performance was very good.
“I thought we completely dominated the game. We had to be patient… we didn't allow them to run. And we were able to generate chances in various ways, which is really pleasing to see for the team.
“I think we showed a lot of maturity to deal with the game in the way that we had to, but in the last three, four minutes, we conceded a goal - and then you have to suffer in this league.”
We dominated possession in the first half but went into the break goalless. So what did the manager say at half-time?
“To continue to do [what we did], to have a lot of discipline in what we want to do, to be more perseverant and more consistent and to take chances to be positive and go for it,” Arteta explained. “The spaces are minimal when you have that many players around the box - and the intensity that they are able to generate on both sides is very difficult to break down. At the end, we found a way.”
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