Arteta: ‘Inter are a great team, victories include set pieces’

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta gave credit to Inter after beating them 3-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday night, and commented on the importance of set pieces after capitalising from yet another corner in San Siro. 

Gabriel Jesus poked Arsenal into an early lead on the night, before Petar Sucic levelled with a rocket from the edge of the box eight minutes later. A Gabriel Jesus header from a corner sent the Gunners back into the lead before the interval, and Viktor Gyokeres pounced to put the game beyond any doubt in the closing stages. 

This was Arsenal’s first Champions League victory on Italian soil since 2008. 

You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.

“Inter are a great team with fantastic moves that are very difficult to defend against, they know how to attack those lines, and at times we were really dominated, so that makes the result even more special,” Arteta told Sky Sport Italia after full-time. 

Arsenal once again capitalised on a set-piece routine when they played against Inter on Tuesday night. Leandro Trossard, the shortest outfielder in the Arsenal side, headed the ball back across the face of goal for Gabriel Jesus to finish off in the six-yard box.

“We try to spend the time we have in training, what little there is, to give us the margin for victory, and that includes set pieces,” Arteta said. “We’ve got a lot of players who can do well in these situations, and we try to make the most of those characteristics.”

Arsenal are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, and the only team to win all seven of their Champions League matches so far this season.

Do they now have the belief in themselves that perhaps they had been lacking in previous years?

“I hope that is true, that we are capable of achieving our targets. It’s still early, but this is a team with a lot of ambition and hunger, so we’ll do our best.”