Mikel Arteta hailed his whole squad and their adaptability as goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka helped us see off Brentford 2-0 at Emirates Stadium.
Our boss made three changes to the line-up, including Noni Madueke and Ben White, who combined beautifully for the opening goal as Merino latched onto White’s cross to make it 1-0.
Speaking about the new combination down the right, Mikel said: “I’m so happy. These are examples that the squad needs, the impact that they have in the team.
“Ben hasn’t played more minutes because Jurrien has been excellent, and before that, because he was injured. But his attitude has been exceptional every single day. Then when you have to play and show your level, you do it because you are ready.”
We were forced into a change during the contest as Cristhian Mosquera was replaced by Jurrien Timber at centre back. Despite the switch-up, we kept our latest clean sheet, something which shows our squad’s resilience and ability to handle every challenge, according to Mikel.
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Every word from Arteta’s post-Brentford presser
He said: “It’s incredible because we lost Big Gabi and Willy, our two main centre-backs who played for a long, long time together. Then we had Mosquera and Piero [Hincapie] doing really well. Then we lost Mosquera. We have to adapt again. But the fact that the boys want it so much I think is the reason why we continue to win games.
“We come off the back of a very, very demanding week emotionally, physically, at every level. Then we have to play three days later with one less day to recover than Brentford. I think we dominated the game.
“We created quite a lot of chances, big chances, but 1-0 against them. Understanding how dangerous they are every time they generate a set play or a throw-in is incredibly hard because it’s always in the back of the mind that they don’t need much to score a goal.
“But I think the part that I probably like the most is when the game was a bit open and they were getting some momentum. We took the ball, we pinned the ball down, we started to play. We have a lot of courage to get out of certain situations and score the second goal and win the game.”
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Match report: Arsenal 2-0 Brentford
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