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Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace as the most valuable of the season after seeing his side open up a four-point lead at the Premier League’s summit.
In what was a nervous Sunday afternoon at the Emirates Stadium, Eberechi Eze’s first-half volley against his former club proved to be the winner. With Liverpool slipping to a fourth straight league defeat at Brentford on Saturday, Arsenal finished the weekend seven points clear of the defending champions.
“I told the boys that I value more this victory than any other victory this season,” Arteta said. “We knew the difficulty of it after playing every three days. It was a big opportunity as well, with the things that happened during the weekend.
“But I knew we were playing against a team who have, in my opinion, been one of the best in terms of organisation and how frustrated they can make you. The moment you lose concentration they will punish you.”
Manchester City, after a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa on Sunday, find themselves six points behind Arsenal. Arteta was keen, however, to pour cold water on any title talk. “We are where we are,” he said. “It’s a credit to us, because we’ve been very, very consistent knowing the difficulty of every match as well. It is early and doesn’t mean anything other than, ‘let’s keep doing a lot of things like we’re doing really well.’ But there are things to improve to give us better margins.”
Eze’s goal was his first in the Premier League since joining from Crystal Palace for £67.5m in August. “He did it very similarly last year, but against us,” Arteta said smiling. “We know against a team that defends with so many bodies, doesn’t allow any space, you have to generate chaos or open spaces to generate big chances. He took the goal really well.”
Arteta could not confirm the extent of the injuries that forced off William Saliba and Declan Rice. The substitute Gabriel Martinelli was also “a bit uncomfortable” by the end.
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“We didn’t give them a lot,” said Palace’s manager, Oliver Glasner. “But we made two mistakes and got punished. That’s why we lost.”
