Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
armory Manager mikel arteta The push to be on top at Christmas gave him the belief and confidence to turn that advantage into success again.
For the third time in the last four years – and the fifth time in the competition’s history – the Gunners are leading Premier League on December 25, but they have yet to convert it into a title win.
A 1–0 win at Everton, thanks to Victor Giocares’s first-half penalty, ensured they took top spot from Manchester City, who had overtaken them earlier in the day.
“It gives me belief and confidence: the level of performances and the consistency in that,” Arteta said.
“It’s very difficult to do that in this league so it means the team is constantly there.
“We enjoy the process of winning. We have to go to tough places and face tough moments. We’ve dealt with a lot of things already and we’re there.”
Gyöckeres’ first goal in six matches came mainly from an uncleared handball by Jake O’Brien and then the captain. martin odegaard Choosing him over Bukayo Saka.
Arteta is happy to take responsibility for the decisions made by players on the field.
“Great decision. Very happy for him,” he said.
“They took ownership of the pitch between Martin, Bukayo and them and decided who was going to take the ball and they put the ball in the net.
“I like it when players take ownership and make decisions themselves.
“(It) shows the confidence of a player who practices every day and is incredible at it.”
Giokares’s penalty decided the game, but the hosts had a legitimate claim to the spot-kick when William Saliba’s attempted clearance saw him kick Thiarno Barry in the second half, however, VAR ruled that no foul had been committed.
everton manager david moyes His response was diplomatic.
“I’m not sure. I looked at it again, I think they said it was insufficient contact,” he said.
“We’ve seen something given if you kick someone’s leg or Achilles. It’s probably been noticed and could have been given, but for VAR not to send him off the screen they may have felt it wasn’t enough.”
Moyes was left to regret O’Brien’s moment of madness after the defender threw both hands in the air at a corner.
“I’m disappointed with the goal we conceded. We gave away a stupid penalty kick,” he said.
“When you think about it we came very close to Arsenal. If they had scored a great goal you could have put your hands up but it didn’t happen, it was a poor decision from us.
“Overall I thought we fought incredibly hard to get something out of the game and challenged Arsenal for long periods of time.
“You can’t say the players weren’t committed or determined, they were brilliant in those aspects. Quality-wise you could probably ask questions.”