MANCHESTER, England :Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday was far from a masterful performance against the better side but manager Mikel Arteta was delighted to escape from Old Trafford with all three points in their Premier League season-opener.
Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori took advantage of a weak challenge from Turkish goalkeeper Altay Bayindir to head home an early corner and then the London side survived an onslaught of United attacks as they dug in to secure the win.
“A big, big result coming into the first game of the season against (United) at Old Trafford,” Arteta said after facing a side fielding new signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.
“When you feel that they are building something special and momentum with the new signings and they want to kick off the season in a good way and you are able to come away with the win, I’m very happy I’m part of the team.”
Arteta said his side, which spent nearly 200 million pounds ($266.30 million) in the close season after three consecutive second-place finishes, did a couple of things well on Sunday.
“One, to take the set-piece and then react to especially mistakes,” he said. “Some of them are necessary, some of them unusual. But the way every single player reacted to that gives us the opportunity to win the game. If not, it’s impossible. And that’s about how we compete and how much we want to take it.”
While United were the better team, Arteta said Arsenal winning while not at their best was a reason for confidence.
“When you’re not at your standards in certain aspects, which today we weren’t, being fair, we can still come away and find a way to win the game,” he said.
“And the team has to find that resilience throughout the season for 10 months in different contexts to be able to do that.
“Of course, we have to improve a lot of things and that will happen very soon. But in terms of managing to get that into a very positive result, that’s a great way to do it.”
Arsenal’s main close-season signing, Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres, did not stand out on his Premier League debut and was substituted early in the second half.
“But overall, coming away to Manchester United, winning your first game with Arsenal, it’s a good start,” Arteta said.
