Interview

‘We played with purpose, desire, solidarity’

It is almost 21 years to the day since Arsene Wenger celebrated his first north London derby win - and he says it remains as sweet a feeling as ever.

First-half goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis sealed a pulsating victory on Saturday, and this is what the boss told Arsenal Media after the game:

on whether winning the north London derby is still as sweet as ever…

Yes, because it was a special game, especially on a day where we were questioned whether we can compete with Tottenham or not and we gave the right response. The perception is one thing, the performance on the pitch is another. We played with purpose, desire, solidarity and with the desire to be efficient as well, so overall we never dropped in our focus and I think we did very well.

 

on the high press the team employed…


We maintained that and we worked very hard from the front. We are an offensive team and of course that is needed for us to do this kind of job.

 

on scoring twice in the first half…

It’s always a worry when you are in a  big game and you don’t take your chances. We had a few in the first half we didn’t take, but the less expected maybe we scored and overall I believe going into half time with a cushion if 2-0 was very important.

 

on nullifying Tottenham…

They didn’t create a lot because I think we were compact as well, we had outstanding defensive performances today, but I would like to come back that the whole team was focused on defending together and that made a big difference.

 

on replicating it…

Of course, to take a positive aspect of the game and transfer it into the next one.

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