Arsenal lacked fluidity throughout, but ultimately secured an important three points in their pursuit of the title. The Gunners were certainly far from convincing and had several nervy moments in attack in their 2-0 win at Molineux on Saturday, although it will matter little at this stage of the season.
Mikel Arteta’s men especially struggled on the once-again-changed left-hand side and looked most dangerous when Ben White and Bukayo Saka combined on the opposite flank. Kai Havertz moved back into midfield, whilst Gabriel Jesus’ movement around the pitch caused Wolves problems.
“I really liked the performance and the clean sheet,” Arteta said afterwards. “Individually and as a team, the team has shown that they still have another step forward to take.”
The Gunners hadn’t won in their last three matches following defeats to Bayern Munich in the Champions League and Aston Villa domestically. However, Arteta was pleased with the squad’s commitment to the cause.
“If you look at the amount of games that we have played in the last few weeks, the type of game that we have played and then the attitude and the way they run today again it is top," he said.
“It is within them. We want to win and we want to compete with the best. The result is something else, but I’m really happy with the approach and the mentality of the team.”
Arteta also backed up City boss Pep Guardiola’s feelings that in order to maintain high levels of football, the English clubs need more rest in between competitions.
“It is about the wellbeing of the players," he said. “Especially when you are competing in European competition.
“Everything has to be competing in the same way. You can’t have a team that hasn’t played for seven days or three days before and then they have more recovery time.
“Then you have to play in the Premier League or the FA Cup. It is not right. If you look at it from any angle, it is not right.
“You want to protect, and you always talk about the players and the protagonists. Let’s protect them and let’s think about them and do everything that we can to give them the maximum time, so that they can recover, and they can perform.”
Arsenal hadn’t scored since the quarter-final first leg against Bayern and it was the combination of Jesus and Leandro Trossard which connected once again to open the scoring just before half-time. The Belgian attacker had an element of luck when his sliced effort nestled into the top corner.
“He is a little magician,” added Arteta. “He can score on any surface. He is a big threat. So composed, so cool, he can play in different positions. It’s just a joy to have him in the team.”
Martin Odegaard later wrapped up a 2-0 win with the second goal in added time as Arsenal moved provisionally top, with Manchester City in FA Cup action on Saturday and Liverpool away to Fulham on Sunday.
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