Mikel Arteta 'extremely proud' as Arsenal end 14-year wait for a Premier League win at Liverpool
Mikel Arteta hailed his Arsenal side's spirit after a 1-0 win at Liverpool ended a 14-year wait for a Premier League victory at Anfield. Kai Havertz scored the only goal on Sunday, just four days after the Gunners were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Fleetwood Town, and the Spaniard insisted beating the hosts on their own patch is exactly why he does the job.
Arteta extremely proud of Anfield win
Speaking to Sky Sports, Arteta said: "Extremely proud. It's been 14 years, that's a long time. I'm sure we made everybody attached to the club extremely proud today. Not only for the victory but for the way we've done it, the spirit we've shown. Especially considering what happened four days ago when you lose and go out of the cup against a team you are supposed to beat. That's the magical part of this game, it can take you to really bad places but four days later you have the opportunity to do something really historic and we've done it."
Asked what the result meant to him as a manager, he added: "I'm extremely proud; this is something you want to accomplish. That's the challenge and mission you want to accomplish. I love it when it's something we have not done for many years. It was the same with Chelsea away and Manchester United away. To be able to beat all those, that's the purpose and motivation and why we do what we do."
Fleetwood defeat fuelled Arsenal
Arteta told BBC Match of the Day that the cup exit had given his squad fresh motivation: "This was especially for everyone attached to this football club. Fourteen years without winning here is a long time. We just said after the last few days, after the defeat against Fleetwood, that things happen for a reason and that's going to give us another spring and hunger and belief to go and do it. What the team has done here today is incredible."
He also explained how Arsenal coped with Liverpool's threat on the break: "The game is going to turn in a different direction very quickly. The way they attack, they can generate vertical attacks almost from a bad clearance or a bad throw, that's the quality that they have. And you have to be prepared, immediately to react to that with 60 metres to defend with four or five players running into your box. And we discussed that, we put everything into those actions, sometimes with more quality, sometimes with less quality, and we generated our own chaos."
Rice praised as Arteta sidesteps Isak claim
Arteta singled out Declan Rice, who set up Havertz's winner with a low cross after an overlapping run: "Not just that, first of all, the movement to recognise the open situation to make the overlap, the timing of him playing the two vs one in the right manner and arriving from the far side constantly in the right space is something we discussed."
He admitted Arsenal had ridden their luck at times, saying: "We had an element of luck as well and we had the quality in the right moments as well to hurt them." Asked about Liverpool's penalty appeal when Jurrien Timber pulled Alexander Isak's shirt, Arteta replied: "No, I haven't seen that."
What's next for Arsenal?
The win moves Arsenal three points clear at the top of the Premier League, but Arteta refused to get carried away: "Today is too early. Let's enjoy this incredible victory with the players and staff and tomorrow we start to prepare for another big, big night in Prague."
