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Arteta hails Arsenal's determination in return to the top

18 Dec 2023
Arteta

Arsenal manager praises his side for learning lessons from last season's home defeat to Brighton

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Mikel Arteta praised his Arsenal team after a dominant display in a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion ended a poor run against the Seagulls and returned his team to the top of the league.

Second-half goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz gave Arsenal a first victory in four home matches against Brighton and eased nerves at Emirates Stadium after a number of first-half chances had gone begging.

“Big compliment to the team and to the players,” Arteta said. “I think we had an incredible performance against a top team.

"We fully deserved to win the game. I have to praise them because I know how difficult it is and what Brighton do to teams. We didn’t allow that to happen, so I’m super happy.”

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Arteta believes that stronger character from his team this season made the difference from the 3-0 defeat in the corresponding fixture last season.

“I think we had a really good first half last season as well," he said. “We should have scored one or two goals but we didn’t. That was my concern today at half-time as well. But [last season] when we conceded the first goal, the team went down because we didn’t have that belief.

“Today we showed a real determination to beat them from the beginning until the end - and we have managed to do it.”

Arsenal have a chance to extend their lead at the top when they visit second-placed Liverpool on Saturday, who sit a point behind the Gunners after they drew 0-0 with Manchester United.

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