Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has fired back at those criticising his side’s attack.
The Gunners have often been described as a boring and defensive team this season, but stats say otherwise. Arteta’s men became the first English side to surpass the 100-goal mark this term during their win against Mansfield Town.
After the game, the Arsenal manager defended his side and also pointed out how many different players have scored for the North Londoners this season.
Who was your Man of the Match against Mansfield?
Mikel Arteta reacts after Arsenal match 73-year feat
Arsenal are the first team in England and just the third in Europe to surpass the 100-goal mark in all competitions this season.
Bayern Munich and Barcelona are the only other sides to do it, which shows just how difficult a feat it is to achieve in the first week of March.
That goes completely against the narrative that some pundits have built around Arsenal. They are so wide of the mark as this is the Gunners’ best goalscoring season since 1952/53 – 73 years ago!
Mikel Arteta was asked about his side scoring over 100 goals and matching the above record after the win at Mansfield Town on Saturday.
He replied on talkSPORT: “I think we have more goals than anybody else, I think it’s over 100 goals. It’s fine, we’re focusing on what we have to do, and I think we’re doing alright.
“The numbers are evidence, the attacking inputs that we have are extraordinary. I mean, you talk about 70 years in the history of football and the context of the league, and the competitions that we are playing for.
“Not only that, the amount of players, I think it’s 19 players now who have scored goals, which is unprecedented, I think.
“That shows the quality and the desire of the boys to contribute to everything that we do.”
Arsenal have scored over 100 goals in 2025/26, but which one is your favourite?
Just four Arsenal outfield players have not scored yet this season
Having 19 different goal scorers by March in a season is an outrageous record.
Arsenal deserve immense praise for reaching that landmark, and they are now just two goals away from equalling Chelsea’s record of having 21 different scorers.
So far, just four first-team players are yet to find the net for the Gunners this season.
They are Cristhian Mosquera, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Christian Norgaard and young Max Dowman, who was officially promoted to the senior squad last summer.
It remains to be seen if any of them can get on the score sheet in the coming months to help Arsenal break Chelsea’s record.
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