Arteta ‘so proud’ as Arsenal defence puts Premier League title hunt back on track

The Football Faithful

·20 April 2024

Arteta ‘so proud’ as Arsenal defence puts Premier League title hunt back on track

Mikel Arteta picked out the Arsenal defence for praise after their win over Wolves sent them to the top of the Premier League.

Leandro Trossard scored on the stroke of halftime before captain Martin Odegaard sealed all three points deep into stoppage time in the second half of Saturday’s encounter.

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The 2-1 victory at Molineux came off the back of last week’s defeat to Aston Villa and their midweek elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich.

“It was a very good response, so proud of them,” Arteta told BBC Match of the Day. “We reacted in the right way.

“We deserved to win the game and got another clean sheet again. Obviously disappointed to lose against Bayern, small margins but we have five games to go and we are top again.

“Even at 2-0 you are never sure and they [Wolves] are a good side, they made some changes and caused us some problems.”

Wolves frustrated Arsenal for much of the game, but the Gunners managed to break the deadlock when Trossard’s sliced shot from the edge of the box went in off the far post.

“They all count and he made an impact again for the team and that’s what we need.”

Arsenal’ defence once again proved its chops, keeping their ninth clean sheets in the Premier League since the turn of the year.

“We’ve been really consistent defensively and that’s the platform needed to win games in this league,” Arteta remarked.

“All we can do is win our games and when you see the form that we are in, in the calendar year, it is unbelievable and you are still not top but it’s the quality of this league.”

Arsenal leapfrogged Manchester City to go first in the Premier League table thanks to Saturday’s win, although the holders can retake top spot by beating Brighton on Thursday. Liverpool can go level with the north London outfit with a win over Fulham on Sunday.

Read – Arteta believes Arsenal can benefit from experience of tough week