Mikel Arteta reached one Arsenal landmark moment in first-half of Sheffield United win

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Mikel Arteta reached a landmark moment as Arsenal manager during the first-half against Sheffield United on Monday evening.

Arsenal scored their 300th Premier League with Mikel Arteta at the helm against Sheffield United.

The Gunners ran riot in the opening period at Bramall Lane. Arteta’s men went ahead with just five minutes on the clock, when Martin Odegaard swept home from close range. By that point, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli had already been denied by the bar and a goal-line clearance, respectively. 

This opener was quickly followed by an own-goal, when Jayden Bogle turned the ball into his own net after some slick work from Saka. Martinelli was then able to get on scoresheet, before Kai Havertz and Declan Rice added to the tally before the break.

With this first-half haul, the Gunners reached and surpassed 300 Premier League goals under the management of Arteta, as reported by Opta. It has taken Arsenal just 161 top flight matches, since the Spanish coach’s appointment at the Emirates Stadium in December 2019, to reach this milestone. In Premier League history, only Pep Guardiola in 120 games, Jurgen Klopp in 142 games, and Manuel Pellegrini in 149 games, have reached this point faster.

Arsenal goalscoring against Sheffield United sends message 

As well as being a nice record to have, the Gunners’ free-scoring recent form could also have ramifications in this season’s title race. Arsenal currently boast the best goal difference in the Premier League, which could prove crucial come the end of the campaign, as the race between the north London outfit, Liverpool, and Manchester City looks set to go down to the wire.

The fact that goals are being scored by committee, to such an extent, is also encouraging. This is not a case of one or two attackers being in blistering form, but rather a team that is firing on all cylinders and sharing the burden of goal-scoring around. This makes them harder to contain and defend against.

Arsenal now need to find a way of somehow maintaining this kind of form. Arteta has set his points target for what he believes will be enough to make Arsenal Premier League champions. If they can keep on playing and scoring as they did at Bramall Lane, then they have every chance of reaching that aim. One thing that is certainly clear is that the Gunners mean business.