Mikel Arteta said Arsenal “had a point to prove” after the 1-0 win at Sporting CP, praising David Raya’s “extraordinary” saves and Kai Havertz’s decisive late impact.
Mikel Arteta said Arsenal “had a point to prove” after Kai Havertz’s late goal secured a 1-0 win at Sporting CP, with the manager hailing both the response of his players and the quality shown at either end of the pitch.
Speaking after the first-leg victory in Lisbon, Arteta made clear the result carried extra weight because of what had come before it. “Extremely happy,” he said. “Obviously, it was a big night, a big moment in the season, especially where we’re coming from. I think we had a point to prove.” He added that the things he had asked to see before the game were visible on the pitch, calling it “a shift there”.
Arteta also stressed how difficult the night had been against a Sporting side with such a strong home record. “We really had to earn it,” he said. “We had moments of real dominance with a lot of situations in and around the box without creating enough threats, sometimes lacking to be a bit crisper, the movement a bit sharper, the final ball. But we took the game where we wanted.” That assessment captured the balance of Arsenal’s performance. They were not flawless, but they gradually imposed themselves and managed the tie on their terms for long spells.
The manager was equally quick to recognise the moments when Arsenal needed David Raya to keep them in the game. “David had to intervene in a brilliant way,” he said, before going even further when asked about the goalkeeper afterwards. “I know he’s extraordinary, magnificent, incredible. I don’t know the adjective, the right one. And with that it’s enough. We are so happy to have him.” It was an emphatic endorsement after a night when Raya’s saves proved every bit as important as the winning goal.
Havertz, meanwhile, drew praise for delivering again in a big European moment. “A lot, because he’s done it,” Arteta said when asked how much he relies on the forward in games like this. “Today he was ready. I could see from the disappointment the other day that he wanted to play immediately.” Arteta also singled out the move itself, saying “the action of the goal both from Gabby and him is fabulous.”
There was also a wider message in Arteta’s press conference about the strength of the group after two damaging defeats. “When you have a difficult period, I think the best thing that you can do instead of talk a lot, is observe,” he said. “Look around you and see how people react.” Arteta said he “cannot be prouder” to work with people whose instinct was simply to ask: “What else can I do to help?” His conclusion was pointed. “Something good, it will happen at the end because we deserve it.”
For Arteta, then, this was more than a late away win. It was proof of character, proof of clarity, and perhaps a reminder of what Arsenal can still become in the closing weeks of the season. “Those are the things that have brought us here,” he said. “If we maintain them we have a great chance.”