Mikel Arteta has spoken about how tough it was for Arsenal to face Everton on Wednesday night, as he referenced Sean Dyche’s side making life ‘really, really difficult’ for Liverpool a number of weeks ago.
Arsenal secured a 4-0 win over Everton and Arteta added that he was pleased with the ‘maturity’ and ‘quality’ his team showed, as he told Premier League Productions (01/03/23 at 10:10 pm)
It wasn’t so long ago that Everton, in Dyche’s first game in charge, beat Arsenal 1-0 at Goodison Park and Arteta mentioned how his players overcame that defeat.
The door that unlocked all of that was called Bukayo Saka when his thunderous effort, just before half-time, started the leakage for the relegation strugglers.
Gabriel Martinelli added to the scoreline moments later, as the game was gone for Everton by the time they could go back in for the half-time break.
But Arteta mentioned what the Toffees do really well and how they are a difficult customer to deal with, as he spoke about their trip to Anfield recently.
“They are well organised and really difficult to play,” said Arteta. “You look at the games and the goals they have conceded. They were in the deep block. But, once we scored the first goal, the game unlocked.
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“Especially with them, the way they play and how good they are on direct play. Second balls and producing set pieces. A shorter score is not enough because they can get in the game straight away. But we played really well and could have scored more.
“This league is a different story. We had proof of that when we played at Goodison. This team played at Anfield and they made it really difficult for Liverpool as well, so we knew that. Really pleased with the performance, the maturity and the quality that we showed.”
ARSENAL RESPOND LIKE CHAMPIONS
That defeat at Goodison Park last month was followed up by dropped points against Brentford, then another defeat to Manchester City.
The obvious questions were being asked back then, but those donning the colours of Arsenal have responded like champions would.
The lead is now five points to Manchester City, who welcome Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United to the Etihad at the weekend, whilst the Gunners face off against relegation strugglers, Bournemouth.
In other news, Report: West Ham ace is on Liverpool’s radar now, Rice has called him ‘massive’
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