Arteta hails Arsenal for showing more fight than Man Utd

Mikel Arteta claimed Arsenal's players were prepared to show more fight than Manchester United's as the Gunners secured their first Premier League win at Old Trafford since 2006.

Arsenal were much the better side and were rewarded with a 1-0 victory thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's second-half penalty, awarded after Paul Pogba fouled Hector Bellerin.

Arteta became just the second manager in Arsenal's history to win both of his first two games against United, Herbert Chapman being the other in 1925-26.

The Spaniard was in no doubt they were worthy winners.

"I’m delighted because we played with a lot of courage and big personality," Arteta told BBC's Match Of The Day.

"Individually you have to win the fights and step up to the occasion and the performance of every player today was top drawer.

"I wanted to generate belief and I asked the players to be who we are as a team right now.

"We could have scored twice in the first half and when we scored the goal we had to manage those moments. There was high stress, it is different to any other ground."

1 - Arsenal have won away at a “big six” side in the Premier League for the first time since a 2-0 win against Manchester City in January 2015, ending their 29-game winless run (D10 L19). Dawn. pic.twitter.com/8aB8G0il4G
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 1, 2020

Aubameyang's penalty ended a run of five league matches without a goal and Arteta hopes it will give the Gabon striker a lift.

He added: "I’m glad it's finished [Aubameyang's barren run]. Every striker needs goals and in these moments we have to create more for Auba. He has scored the crucial goal and it is going to lift his confidence."

Aubameyang, meanwhile, labelled the result "very big" in the context of Arsenal's season and believes it can give them the impetus to climb the table from ninth place.

He told Sky Sports: "It's been a very tough game but I'm really happy because the team played very well.

"It's been a long time without a win here, so of course it's a big win. At half-time we were concerned we hadn't scored but we knew that in the second half we had to score

"After that, everyone wanted to defend as a squad. We did that well and I'm happy. Everyone was giving their best today and that's why we won.

"We knew since the beginning that we had to trust the process. Mikel is bringing something very nice and everyone wants to follow him."