For the first time since August, Bernd Leno was named in the starting line up for a Premier League game, and he marked his return with a clean sheet to help earn a vital win.
Afterwards Mikel Arteta praised the attitude and commitment of the German goalkeeper, who was called into action deep into injury time to keep our Philippe Coutinho's free-kick.
"He had control, emotionally he was prepared and I’m really happy for him," Mikel said after the game. "Obviously it’s been a tough few months for him because he’s always played in his career, but he has stayed there, Aaron has been here to support him and it’s great to see those things.
"His reaction has been very good, accepting the role, it’s very difficult not accepting it, but relaxing about it, just trying to push and improve in every area and this is what we want from our players."
Bernd's was just one of the many impressive performances across the Gunners team, who recorded a 17th win in the league to move four points clear in fourth place.
The manager said the victory - our fifth successive on the road in the Premier League – was the result of a dominant and hard-working display.
"Yes, and there is not another option in this league. Every player has to do a lot of things, not just one thing, and the understanding, the chemistry, the speed of how we are doing things is much, much better.
"It’s just the killer instinct when we are dominating the games that we have to score the second and third one and that is going to give us a bit more oxygen so we don’t have to suffer at the end
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
