Ainsley Maitland-Niles was named in the starting XI in the Premier League for the first time since our 1-0 win over Norwich on September 11, and put in an excellent performance in the centre of midfield.
Partnering Sambi Lokonga, the Arsenal academy product was involved throughout the 90 minutes, winning possession more times than any other player (nine) and winning a team high three tackles. He was also instrumental in the move that led to Bukayo Saka's 'goal' that was disallowed for offside in the first half.
Here's what he told Arsenal Media after the game…
on the win…
Yeah, we had to dig deep, it took us 96 minutes to get the job done and everyone was out there and showed a lot of unity and togetherness and helped us through the game.
on momentum building…
Yeah of course, we show it every day in training, we're showing it on the match days, the fans were behind us which is even easier for us and they're giving us that extra momentum and today it showed.
on setbacks…
Yeah of course, but these things happen in football and it just a great reaction to see us bounce back from that, the disallowed goals, the penalty miss and still come out on top.
on being solid defensively…
Yeah, that's our jobs, we want to score goals and concede as less as we can and we're showing that recently. A bit more goals would be great, but it's coming, it's coming.
on starting in midfield…
Yeah always happy to be on the pitch and play, it's a good feeling.
on what the manager has said…
Of course I'm looking for more minutes, I just need to keep my head down and keep going and working hard.
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