Arteta on "beautiful" winning goal

Mikel Arteta admitted he was overwhelmed with emotion after our topsy-turvy comeback victory against Bournemouth.

Philip Billing and Marcos Senesi’s goals had put the Cherries in command at the start of the second half. But then Thomas Partey pulled a goal back to start a memorable comeback.

Ben White equalised soon after but it looked as though we’d be held to a draw - until Reiss Nelson had the final say with a 97th-minute screamer to cue ecstatic scenes inside Emirates Stadium. 

So, how did Mikel feel when the final whistle went?

“Overwhelmed, I would say,” he told us. “It was incredible.

“The way the game started, we conceded a goal after nine seconds. We tried and tried and didn’t score a goal, and then we conceded from a set-play and it looked like it wasn’t our day. But we had a lot of discipline, a lot of courage to continue to play. 

“We needed a goal, we scored it with Thomas and then the energy changed straight away. We all had the belief that if you score the second one, you can win the game. But we still had to do it. 

“There were a lot of players that stepped up today to a level that I have never seen before, especially in difficult moments. The subs made a huge, huge impact. 

“To celebrate the goal from someone like Reiss, who has had difficult moments, hugging people that you love next to each other, with staff and players, looking at that joy and just feeling the energy with our supporters. It was just beautiful.”

Mikel was also keen to praise the impact of our supporters on a dramatic afternoon in north London.

“There was a moment around 60-65 minutes, where you can start to throw the towel a little bit and start to rush decisions and give free-kicks away,” Arteta said. 

“Then you lose the momentum. We didn’t allow that to happen - it was the opposite and we generated the atmosphere, the belief. We played with a real tempo and speed in the game. I’m delighted.”

Watch the full interview with the boss above