Quotes

Arteta - Today we won ugly

We might not have been at our fluent best at the London Stadium on Sunday, but after the game Mikel Arteta was just pleased that the side had seen out the win, to keep our place in the top four.

The side had to dig deep to twice take the lead, then hold onto it in the face of heavy pressure from the hosts in the second half.

It was that character that pleased the boss when he spoke to Arsenal Media after the game.

"They showed a real fight, spirit, togetherness and a resilience and ambition not to give up when we had difficult moments," he said.

"Today we won ugly," he added. "It is a really good phrase that I learnt in this country and I think it is true.

"I think today we won in a different way, we did not win the game in the way that we played against Manchester United for example, but it is equally important or more important to win this game because we've played three big teams and won three of them."

The boss also praised his young side for coping with the pressure that comes with a race for the top four, showing some streetwise knowing that Tottenham had taken three points in their game just before ours kicked off.

"We are really young but now we are getting a different spirit. I see another 'street'. I don't know, the same spirit there when they have to do other things on the pitch and I love that because at this level it is very necessary."