‘They’re having a good time’ – Arteta praises ‘terrific’ Arsenal young guns

Lewis Oldham
Arteta speaks on Arsenal's win

Mikel Arteta has praised Arsenal’s young players after their 2-0 victory over Leicester City in the Premier League.

The Gunners welcomed Leicester City to the Emirates on Sunday. The hosts went ahead early on as Thomas Partey made it 1-0 inside the opening 15 minutes.

Aaron Ramsdale was forced into an incredible save before the break as he kept out a header from Harvey Barnes.


Odegaard dazzles sorry Leicester as Arsenal glimpse a golden future


Arsenal were gifted an opportunity to make it 2-0 with around twenty minutes to go. This came as Caglar Soyuncu handled the ball in the penalty area.

Alexandre Lacazette stepped up and he placed the ball in the top corner to take the game away from the Foxes.

Arteta’s side were in control as they saw out the game to pick up another victory. They have now won five league games in a row.

This result lifts Arsenal back up to fourth in the table. They still have games in hand over the teams around them as well.


Speaking post-match, Arteta stated that it was a “big win” for his team:

“Without putting in a performance we don’t beat Leicester. They are a good side and made it tough for us. It was a big win for us,” Arteta acknowledged (via BBC Sport).

“I was pleased with the understanding of what we had to do. When they started to overload in certain areas, we understood how we had to resolve that. Also pleased with the movement and link-up between the players was terrific.”

On playing Champions League football: “The reality in football is when you start to predict what can happen no-one would get it right – the only thing we can control is our performance.

“We are in a good position but there is still a lot to fight for. Next up is Liverpool – we know how tough it will be but we will try to win it.

“You can sense and feel the [young players] are having a good time together and that translates on the pitch.”

On Lacazette: “We appreciate and understand the work he does for us in certain areas and today we are happy he has been able to score.”

Martin Odegaard said after the win that Arsenal “have a lot of confidence” at the moment:

“We have a very strong belief in the group and play with a lot of confidence and we just have to keep going.

“We have a lot of confidence in the team now and everyone believes in what we are doing.

“We’re strong as a team and that is the most important thing.

“I was pretty sure [it was a penalty], I saw the ball hit the hand so I was pretty sure it was a penalty.”