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regular-article-logo Thursday, 02 May 2024

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praises team’s mentality after win over Manchester United

Team was very dominant and deserved to win the game, but the margins with this team are so small and it could have gone in a different way, says Arteta

Reuters London Published 05.09.23, 10:03 AM
Mikel Arteta.

Mikel Arteta. File photo

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised his team’s mentality after they sealed a 3-1 stoppage-time win over Manchester United on Sunday but said they must find a way to finish teams off earlier in games rather than rely on “magic moments” at the end.

Declan Rice scored in the 96th minute and Gabriel Jesus added a third in the final seconds to seal the Premier League win after captain Martin Odegaard had cancelled out Marcus Rashford’s opener.

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“I love the mentality of the team, the determination, the eagerness to win,” Arteta said. “The team was very dominant and deserved to win the game, but the margins with this team are so small and it could have gone in a different way.”

Arsenal were held by Fulham the previous week after beating Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace by one-goal margins. They return to action on September 17 against Everton.

“The margins that we have in the later stages of the games are not big enough,” he added. “That’s something that we have to improve because you notice a lot of anxiety and you have to wait for a magic moment at the end. We don’t want to rely on that.”

Midfielder Rice, who joined from West Ham United for a club record £105m ($132.39m), scored his first Arsenal goal and said he felt no added pressure because of his transfer fee. “I can’t control the price,” he told Sky Sports. “I’ve been playing well at West Ham for a few years and I gave everything there. Since then, I’ve tried to block it out and do what I do best.”

Ten Hag fumes

Manchester United were extremely unlucky not to leave North London with a better result said manager Erik ten Hag, who was left fuming after “everything went against” his team.

“We have to improve, definitely,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports. “But you see, and also what we have seen last year, we can beat everyone.

“We needed a little bit more luck to win the game. (Garnacho’s goal) was not offside. It was the wrong angle,” he added of the video review.

Ten Hag also zeroed in what he thought were a few late officiating blunders.

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