LONDON – Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta was delighted at how his side bounced back with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers to return to the top of the English Premier League table, after a disappointing week that saw them knocked out of the Champions League.
A defeat by Aston Villa in their last league game hurt their title chances and the midweek loss to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals ended their European hopes but the win over Wolves on April 20 got them back on track.
Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard struck at the end of each half to give the Gunners the win.
“It was a very good response, so proud of them. We reacted in the right way. We deserved to win the game and got another clean sheet again,” Arteta told the BBC.
“Obviously disappointed to lose against Bayern – small margins but we have five games to go and we are top again.”
Arsenal lead the standings on 74 points, level with Liverpool who beat Fulham 3-1, but are second on goal difference. They are both a point ahead of Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
“We’ve been really consistent defensively and that’s the platform needed to win games in this league,” Arteta said.
“All we can do is win our games.”
Arsenal had only fleetingly threatened before the break despite dominating possession.
But they got the slice of fortune they needed to kick-start their challenge for a first title in 20 years on 45 minutes, when Trossard’s mishit shot clipped in off the far post.
Odegaard made the points safe five minutes into stoppage time by catching Jose Sa out at his near post. The Gunners captain said: “Massive win for us. It was a tough week for us, few tough results and emotionally really hard but we had to keep doing.
“Today was all about bouncing back and getting the win.
“Still a long way to go, still tight in the race, so today was all about getting back to business.”
Meanwhile, Wolves boss Gary O'Neil was happy with how his side pushed Arsenal all the way.
“It’s not often you are pleased and proud after a defeat but in our current situation to produce energy and fight like that was an incredible effort,” he said of his mid-table side.
“The negative would be the second goal, the lads didn’t deserve to lose 2-0. It’s an incredibly young team and squad that gave one of the best teams in the country a run for their money.” REUTERS, AFP
