Mikel Arteta praised Eberechi Eze’s growing influence after Arsenal beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0, with the manager saying his side needed a “magical moment” to break the tie open at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta said Arsenal needed a “magical moment” to break open their Champions League tie against Bayer Leverkusen after a 2-0 win at the Emirates sent his side into the quarter-finals. Eberechi Eze’s first-half strike and Declan Rice’s finish after the break sealed a 3-1 aggregate victory, with Arsenal now through to face Sporting in the last eight.
Arteta highlights Eze’s decisive contribution
The Arsenal manager began with the first goal and the player who supplied it. “We started the game so well and we were a threat from every angle,” Arteta said. “Their keeper kept them in the game and we needed a magical moment from Ebs to break that.”
That was the key moment in the first half. Arsenal had already created pressure and territory, but Eze’s strike gave the performance its breakthrough and changed the direction of the night. Arteta’s use of “magical moment” captured both the quality of the finish and its importance in a tie that had still been live after the first leg in Germany.
Arteta then widened the point beyond the goal itself. “I think he’s building a better chemistry, a better understanding with all of them, and we start to understand him much better and then, yes. Today he had to come off. He has a lot of minutes in him, but he’s handling the pressure of the situation and the expectation very well.”
Rice also singled out after second-leg win
Rice was the other player Arteta chose to emphasise after the game. “I think he was immense today,” he said. “The performance that he put in, with and without the ball, his presence, the determination that he showed in every action. Then obviously, scoring the goal that he scored in a big night like this, I’m really pleased with him.”
That assessment reflected Rice’s wider display as much as his goal. His finish after the break gave Arsenal control of the scoreline, but Arteta’s praise was aimed at the full performance rather than a single action. In a game where Arsenal needed authority as well as quality, Rice gave them both.
Arteta turns attention to Carabao Cup final
Arteta was also asked whether his team selection had Sunday’s Carabao Cup final in mind, but his answer made clear that Arsenal’s focus had been fixed on the Leverkusen tie.
“Every decision to be honest was focused on today’s game,” he said. “What was at stake was huge, we’ve been three times in the quarter-finals but I don’t know how many [in total]. Not that many, I don’t think, and that tells you how difficult it is to achieve it, and now we can start to think about Sunday.”
The job against Leverkusen had been completed, the quarter-final place had been secured, with Arteta clear that had always been the focus. But now, the focus turns to the Gunners' first chance at silverware this season, a date a Wembley for a trophy that has alluded the club since 1993.