Mikel Arteta was full of praise for his players after their incredible backs-against-the-wall display earned them a point against Manchester City.
We battled back from a goal down to lead 2-1 for the majority of the game, despite Leandro Trossard’s controversial red card just before half-time. But a resolute defensive display saw us repel attack after attack until the final minute of stoppage time when John Stones netted an equaliser for the hosts.
But despite the disappointment of seeing a win turn into a draw, the boss was thrilled with his players for putting their bodies on the line to grind out a result and maintain our unbeaten start to the campaign.
“We know how difficult it is already against this team here, that's the reason why they haven't lost for over a year. We struggled in the first 10 to 15 minutes to control certain spaces and they scored the goal, but we reacted incredibly well.
“We showed unbelievable character and personality and then we had the game where we wanted it. The team showed again that it’s ready in any context, that it’s strong, with people cramping against 10 men. For 56 minutes to do what we've done is remarkable and it's a shame that at the end we haven't managed to win the game.
“The team has this character, this personality, and we showed it today in probably in the most difficult stadium in Europe.”
Mikel admitted that at half-time he managed to regroup the players after the red card, and drill into them that this was going to be a challenge.
They responded to that call by putting in a famous battling display that’ll go down in Arsenal folklore, and Mikel’s pride in his players shone through.
On what his message was at the interval, he added: “We had to adapt to the context, explain the game that we have to try to play, and how we could prevent certain things, not all of them - that's going to be impossible for 56 minutes, especially mentally. We had to be ready to be so disciplined, and make a lot of defensive actions because we knew the game that was coming.
“We came here to win, that's the reality. And within the difficulty, obviously we were thrown an aspect that we didn't think about. But we got at least a draw, and we have to move on.”
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