ARTETA PROUD OF HIS GUNNERS

Mikel Arteta couldn’t hide his pride after Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 to seal the 2020 FA Cup; his first silverware as a coach and our 14th success in the competition.

Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the Gunners hero on the day, scoring from the penalty spot to cancel out Christian Pulisic’s early opener and then dinking a winner over Willy Caballero on 67 minutes.

After the match, Arteta praised the attitude of his players and reiterated just how important a win it was.

Here’s what he said when he faced the BBC cameras…

 

On the performance…

We went behind but reacted straight away, we probably played the best 30 minutes [of football] since I arrived. We equalised, we got the goal and we generated belief. In the second half, we talked about being so close to winning this trophy. Everybody worked so incredibly hard. I am so proud to represent these players and this club.

On qualifying for Europe…

It’s a double reward for us, it’s really important for this club in every way to be in Europe. We’ve done it through this competition, winning it. It’s part of our history, that’s 14 now. We all contributed, we all did it. I’m so happy.

On Aubameyang…

He knows what I think about him, I want to build the squad around him. I think he wants to stay. It’s about getting the deal done. I think moments like that will help him to realise and to believe that we are on the right path. He’s a big part of it, he’s loved by everybody at the club. Hopefully, he can continue with us. I think he will.

On the Community Shield being in 28 days time…

Give me a break! We’ve played every two and a half days, you can see the injuries that are happening during the games. The players were completely knackered. They made a massive effort to be fit through the coronavirus [lockdown] and when you work so hard you get your reward. I’m so happy for them.