Interview

Arteta - We were ruthless in both boxes

Mikel Arteta was delighted with his team's performance at both ends of the pitch on Thursday night as we beat Slavia Prague to progress to the semi-finals of the Europa League.  

After the final whistle, Arteta reflected on our dominant display and discussed facing former Arsenal boss Unai Emery in the next round of the competition.

"I am really pleased because we are through and I think we are through in a really convincing way," Arteta told Arsenal.com. "In this round, 4-0 isn’t easy. They haven’t lost at home in almost two years and they are a tough opponent, but we had some big individual performances and then collectively we understood the game really well and we were very efficient.

"In Europe more than any other competition, games are decided in both boxes and we were ruthless in both of them. We kept a clean sheet and we scored four goals and could have scored more.

"We didn’t [switch off] and we cannot do it because this team doesn’t allow you to do that. It’s very similar to Leeds and we know their spirit from when we played them at home and we did some really good things. They keep alive and they keep believing and they’re a team that fights until the end.

"We’re [now] going to face an opponent that has a big experience in European competition and a manager in Unai that has won it three times and is probably the most successful one in the competition, so we will look at them and see how they do, and after that, be us. We’re going to go there and be us."

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