Arsenal put pressure on Manchester City with 3-0 win
First-half performance ‘one of the best’ this season
Mikel Arteta said his Arsenal team had played some of their best football of the season in Saturday’s 3-0 home win over Fulham and demanded that they take the positive feelings into the return leg of their Champions League semi-final against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday.
Arsenal picked a fine time to recover their attacking flow, Viktor Gyökeres scoring either side of a Bukayo Saka goal to give them an unassailable half-time lead. The result took them six points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, albeit their rivals have two games in hand – the first of which is at Everton on Monday night.
Arteta said he would watch that match as he finalised his preparations for Atlético’s visit to the Emirates Stadium; the first leg in Madrid last Wednesday finished 1-1. But he was less interested in what his team’s cruise against Fulham said to City and more about what it could do for his own players’ belief as they chase glory at home and in Europe.
