Jurrien Timber reveals Arsenal's psychological advantage as momentum builds | OneFootball

Gunners beat Manchester United on Wednesday night to continue fine form

Jurrien Timber believes Arsenal’s reputation from set-pieces can give them a psychological edge over opponents.

The Gunners scored twice from corners to beat Manchester United 2-0 and close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to seven points.

Arsenal have now scored 22 goals in the Premier League from corners since the start of last season, which is more than any other team in that period.

On 10 occasions, like when Timber headed home Declan Rice’s corner, it has provided Mikel Arteta’s side with the opening goal.

And asked if Arsenal’s prowess from set-pieces gives them a psychological edge over opponents, Timber said: “I think so, I hope so. I hope so, because we are scoring a lot out of it. So I hope so, definitely.

“They (Arsenal’s set-pieces) look really dangerous and we feel really confident when we go into a set-piece as well, which is a nice feeling. We showed again how dangerous we are from set-pieces.

Arsenal slipped to third in the Premier League, despite their win. Chelsea leapfrogged them into second after their 5-1 win at Southampton meant they now have a better goal difference than the Gunners.

Arsenal’s set-piece success continued against Manchester United

Visionhaus/Getty Images

Arteta’s side, however, did close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to seven points after they were held to a draw at Newcastle.

Arsenal, who travel to Fulham on Sunday, have now won four games on the spin and Timber believes they have momentum after people previously wrote them out of the title race.

“People say anything these days but we just have to focus on ourselves,” he said. “We know how long the season is, we just have to keep winning games and from there we will see how we do.

“I think every game is winnable but I think we are gaining some momentum. We are playing some really good games, this wasn’t easy but we still got the three points which gives us confidence for the next games ahead.

Timber’s goal was his first for Arsenal since joining in the summer of 2023 from Ajax and he benefitted from the Gunners being without their biggest threat from set-pieces, Gabriel.

The Dutchman has been desperate to get off the mark and had a goal disallowed from a set-piece two weeks ago, when Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest.

“It was coming, it nearly came against Forest,” Timber said. “It was coming and I was really happy it came now because it was an amazing game, I’m happy I was able to do it and it was an important one as well.

“It could be anyone, to be fair. I think we created a lot of chances with the corners so I was happy it was me but I’m also just happy with the three points.”

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