After watching us extend our unbeaten run to 16 games, Mikel Arteta spoke to the press about our 3-1 win over Southampton.

He was asked about Bukayo Saka’s form, how he came back to life after conceding a goal, how Kai Havertz scored again and much more.

Here’s everything he had to say:

about performance:
I found the first half exceptional. The dominance we had in the areas we played, the amount of situations and chances we created in open play and set pieces, and our counter-pressing worked really well there. It’s unbelievable that we didn’t score a goal.

Then we started the second half, we were a bit sloppy with the ball, especially in the first 5-10 minutes, and then the game became a bit more open. Then they took the chance, scored the goal, and then again we wasted everything we managed in the first half. It was a completely new game in a really difficult context and the team reacted incredibly well and with a lot of composure; great faith, very good clarity about what we needed to do. The crowd was exceptional, the subs were exceptional and we were able to win again.

on Bukayo’s performance and his leadership in the team:
This is the maturity and the steps that the players have to take. He’s been with the team long enough now, he’s earned the right to play this role, he believes in that. He has the ability to change games and decide games, like many other players. If you want to get to the top, sometimes players have to create those moments and he certainly did that today.

on the appearances of Jesus and Sterling:
I was really happy. We made the changes, we had to make them and everyone deserves to play. In the first half it could have been completely different to the result we had at half time. After that we decided to make a change because the energy needed to change and we brought in three players who are capable of doing that and they really helped. I’m really happy with all of them.