Arsenal won their 10th away game of the season today as they beat Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
A famous one nil to the Arsenal got the job done in the end with a very controlled but dominating performance from Mikel Arteta’s side.
The boss spoke to the media after the game and here’s what he had to say…
On the key to our away record this season…
“I think we dominated the game from the start almost to finish, we had a difficult 10 or so minutes where we gave so many balls away that we lost a little bit of control, but in general, I think our play and understanding of the space, how they were pressing, how we got into final third positions was excellent. We lacked a little bit of that final pass to score more or create bigger chances, I think we weren’t over the decision with the disallowed goal, which was difficult to take, but to stay really focussed and determined to do that, I think defensively we were incredible because we restrict Leicester to one shot on target in the whole game at home is a difficult thing to do. The players did really well.”
On Leandro Trossard’s performance…
“He did really well. I think he was really good, I think he got involved in many situations that could have ended up in many more big chances, he was involved in the incredible goal that he scored that was disallowed, involved in the goal of Gabi, the pass that he played to him, he’s so good in small spaces, tight spaces, with his creativity to open people up and I’m really happy with him.”
On the achievement of winning the last two away games…
“Really important obviously, it creates more belief, more belief in the players, more belief around our club, and externally, I had full faith the players could do it, it was coming back to some basics and some details that can get games away from us, we made it much more than what we got. In the last two games, especially today, we’ve done those things much better.”l
On the basics and details that the team needed to go back to before winning at Villa Park…
“Especially against teams like Everton, the way we concede the goal, the way we conceded certain set-pieces were very avoidable, and sometimes the wave is created that is very far from the beach, you know? And then it’s too late to avoid what is going to happen. And we had to improve on those things, and I think today we have done really, really well.”
On Martinelli’s performance after being rested last week…
“It was really important for him as well, sometimes you have to give someone a breather to come back with more enthusiasm and more energy, he contributed with a fantastic goal that gives us the win, and with his contract, delighted because we’ve been working for a while on that and we want to keep our best players with us, he committed to what we are doing as a club.”
On Martinelli’s not losing any motivation on the pitch…
“We’re not going to lose that on Gabi, my worry if anything is sometimes you have to slow him down because he has got too much, he’s in a great place.”
