It may have taken a bit longer than any of us wanted, but Mikel Arteta was all smiles by the time we booked our place in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup.
An own goal from Maxence Lacroix looked to be sending us through, before Marc Guehi netted an injury-time equaliser to force penalties.
We scored all eight of ours in the shootout, meaning Kepa Arrizabalaga’s save – from that man Lacroix – was decisive.
“I’m very happy to win, it’s what we wanted,” he said at full time. “We played against a team that is very well organised, really difficult to penetrate and create chances [against], but I think we created a lot today, we had many chances.
“In my opinion, the margin should have been much bigger. But you have to defend the box better than we did and not concede the sequences of play that we conceded previous to the goal.
“What I loved as well is that even though, emotionally, it was tough to accept that, we were very controlled and really composed the way we took the penalties, it was really convincing.”
It was the fifth penalty shootout we have won since Mikel Arteta became manager six years ago, and we have scored 32 of the 35 penalties taken in the seven shootouts since 2020.
“The penalties were unbelievable,” he said. “Very different, all of them, but the players showed, again, great composure, a lot of personality and quality to score the goals.
“We executed really well and at the end, Kepa did what he had to do to help us to go through.”
It means we go into Christmas on top of the Premier League table, on top of the Champions League league phase, and now into the last four of the Carabao Cup.
“We are alive in all competitions, and the team is showing great signs of consistency, quality and togetherness,” the boss added. “Today, we made eight changes and when that happens, it’s really difficult to see a team that is so cohesive and I’m really proud of what I’ve seen. There were some very big individual performances as well. So, yes, a happy night.”
The boss added: “Ahead of Christmas and I would like to thank all of them again for coming up and turning up in such a great atmosphere and have a merry Christmas and all the best for the new year, everybody.”
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