Mikel Arteta hails Arsenal response to Man City defeat

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised his side’s continued response to losing to Manchester City after they won their third game in a row on Wednesday.

The Gunners’ Premier League title charge took a huge blow as they fell 3-1 to City in February but successive victories over Aston Villa, Leicester and Everton have restored their five-point advantage at the top of the table.

Losing to City was the sort of result which could have derailed Arsenal in seasons gone by, but Arteta admitted something feels different at the Emirates this year.

“I wasn’t in any doubt [about bouncing back after the City loss],” Arteta said after Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Everton.

“When you look at them every day you can feel how much they want it, how much they want to please our people.

“We just need to focus on what we can control and let the rest happen naturally because it is nothing else anybody can control.”

Despite Arsenal’s impressive position at the top of the table, Arteta maintained his stance that the Gunners are not favourites for the Premier League title.

“What I like is that everyone has the enthusiasm to [win the title],” he continued. “We’re not gonna stop that and we have to promote that. The way to promote that is to look at this game and understand that we can do things better, especially in the first half. Make sure we prepare well against Bournemouth.

“I think we’re here because we work how we work, we have really good players and we have a really good connection with our players. So everything adds to the table.”