Mikel Arteta referenced Arsenal’s 4-1 victory over Tottenham at half-time during the win over Chelsea, and his players reacted accordingly.
It’s been a week of London derby focus for Arsenal, who, after beating Tottenham 4-1 away from home, returned to the Emirates to beat Chelsea 2-1.
Chelsea gave Arsenal a tougher game than Spurs, that’s for sure, but the games were strangely parallel, final score aside.
It’s why, at half-time, Arteta motivated his team by reminding them that they were level at the break at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, just as they were at the Emirates against Chelsea.
Who surprised you the MOST against Chelsea?
Good or bad, let us know!
Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal players used the Tottenham win as motivation at half-time against Chelsea
In his post-match press conference, the Arsenal manager lifted the lid on his half-time team talk.
“I reminded them that we were in the exactly same position against Spurs seven days ago in that dressing room,” Arteta said, as transcribed by Football London.
The boss then revealed how his players responded to the comparison.
“They said, ‘Look what happened in the second half!’ So we’re going to do it again. But probably we’re going to have to go through some difficult patches to earn the right to win the game.”
Just like at Spurs, Arsenal conceded an equaliser after taking a first-half lead, and also like at Spurs, they had a response.
There was, however, a huge difference, as instead of Arsenal’s attack being at the forefront of the North London Derby win, it was Arsenal’s defence who were busy against Chelsea.
Arsenal’s defence probably won’t replicate what they did against Chelsea
When Arteta named an unchanged back four to face Chelsea, he perhaps wouldn’t have expected that each player would be involved in a goal.
William Saliba writes Arsenal into history – how many more times will this happen this season?
Set-piece Kings 👑
It was goal contributions across the board for the back four, but sadly, Piero Hincapie’s benefitted Chelsea rather than Arsenal.
Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba combined for the opener, Jurrien Timber netted the match-winner, and Hincapie scored Chelsea’s equaliser as an own goal.
Arsenal’s defence would have expected to be busy against Chelsea, perhaps not in the final third, though.
No matter the source of the goals, the game was won by Arsenal’s desire to right their wrongs at half-time, collecting a vital three points by doing so.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
