Head coach praises ‘ruthless’ side after 4-1 victory
Arsenal move five points clear at top of Premier League
Mikel Arteta praised his players for “smelling blood” on a “beautiful evening” at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal swatted aside their title rivals Aston Villa to record a fourth successive Premier League win and move five points clear of Manchester City, at least till Thursday.
Arsenal recovered from the loss of Declan Rice with a knee injury and a poor first-half performance to run out comfortable winners, inspired by two goals at the start of the second half, from Gabriel Magalhães and Martín Zubimendi.
“It is a beautiful evening,” Arteta said. “That was a very tough match, as we knew it would be, because they are a top opponent to play against. To continue to win you have to win in different contexts. Today maybe the margin wasn’t that big, but we made it big because we were so efficient and ruthless in front of goal.
