Arteta: ‘We dominated almost every aspect’ | Interview | News

Mikel Arteta was disappointed that his team’s performance didn’t result in all three points against Manchester City on Sunday, praising his players for a dominant display at Emirates Stadium.

We enjoyed 67 per cent of the possession against City, it was the lowest share any Pep Guardiola team has ever recorded in a top-flight league match. Mikel also became the first manager to go five league games unbeaten against his former mentor, but he was still left wanting more, despite Gabriel Martinelli’s late equaliser. 

“I must say I’m very, very proud of the players and the team,” the boss said. “I think the way we played, the way we dominated almost every aspect of the game, apart from the scoreline, it was outstanding. I know that as a coach, and people like me know how difficult it is to do that against Manchester City, and what I would say is, we are very disappointed with the result.”

In his pre-match press conference Mikel had spoken about his ‘finishers’ coming off the bench to make a positive impact, and for the second game in a row Gabi lived up to the billing – and it was some finish from this ‘finisher’ to earn the point. 

 “It’s unbelievable,” Mikel said. “Gabi played some great moments and minutes in Bilbao and today, he didn’t start, but he’s got the same energy, the same commitment, the same drive to produce another great moment. 

“Ebz as well, I’m sure he was disappointed not to start the game, but I knew it was going to be a long match, and there were going to be moments where the game had to be shifted in different ways, and this certainly had a massive impact.

 “We needed them. With Noni as well who picked up an injury, Bukayo was ready, and he had some very good moments as well throughout the game, and missing some important players like Gabby, like Kai as well, and some of the players that are still not available, like Martin as well. We need all of the players.”