Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has opened up after his side recorded a comprehensive 4-1 over Leeds United during the Premier League on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium.
A Gabriel Jesus brace plus goals from Ben White and Granit Xhaka helped stretch Arsenal’s winning run in the Premier League to seven games.
League leaders Arsenal are eight points ahead of Manchester City but the latter have a game in hand.
“What we can control is what we can do. We’ve been discussing that [importance of this result after Manchester City’s win] for the last few days. After the international break we had a lot of tricky situations to manage with a few players and it’s always a question mark with how the team is going to react after that. I think they were exceptional, they were really at it, everyone wanted to be involved and we won the game in a convincing way, which is good and the only thing that we can control,” Arteta said during the post-match press conference.
He also lauded Jesus, who was impressive in his first league start since November. The forward was out of action for three months after picking up a knee injury at the World Cup.
“I’m delighted for him [Jesus]. They were all clapping for him and he’s been working so hard the last four or five months with a lot of support obviously from the team and the staff. Today he deserved the chance to start and he grabbed the opportunity with a lot of conviction and scoring two very important goals,” the manager said.
Arteta is also focused on ensuring that his players enjoy the moment as Arsenal look to win their first Premier League title since 2004.
“Just enjoy the moment that we are in. We have nine games to go but [on Monday] we have a training session that is going to enable us to be better as a team, and if we go through the journey day by day, when the game comes we are in a state of mind and you are really looking forward to it. You have oxygen to grab instead of gasping, and we just want that energy and belief. We go to the next target and we go for it,” he concluded.