Mikel Arteta reveals the Manchester United half-time message that inspired Arsenal's win over Wolves.
At halftime, Mikel Arteta revealed to his players that a loss to Wolves would effectively end Arsenal's chances of catching Chelsea and Manchester United.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was speaking just moments after his team defeated Wolves 2-1 at The Emirates.
Hwang Hee-chan took advantage of a Gabriel mistake to round Aaron Ramsdale and score from a tight angle after only 10 minutes of play.
The home team appeared to be in for a frustrating night as wave after wave of attacks were repulsed by one of the Premier League’s toughest defenses.
The introduction of Nicolas Pepe from the bench, however, changed the game, with the Ivorian capping a fantastic Arsenal move with a ten-minute equalizer.
And, in the final seconds of injury time, Jose Sa's own goal gave Arsenal a vital victory that moves them just one point behind Manchester United, who have two fewer games remaining, and five points ahead of Chelsea, who have one more game to play.
Wolves were defeated after scoring the opening goal for the first time in 45 Premier League games as a result of the come-from-behind victory.
An ecstatic Arteta told Amazon Prime that the manner of victory was ideal for instilling confidence in his young team, and he revealed the details of his passionate half-time team discussion.
"It was a big win for us," he explained. "The way we won creates such a sense of belief and togetherness, as well as an atmosphere and cohesion with our fans, which is extremely important." This is a very young team, which is exactly what we need. " At halftime, I stated that if we want to finish third or fourth among the big teams, we must come out in the second half and beat them. That was the spirit from halftime, and we pulled it off."
Arteta joked about the rest of the season, saying, "After three defeats in the first three games, we had to avoid relegation." That was the initial goal. Then we went game by game...you just have to watch it. with your vision and the way you prepare and believe the result will come.
"We don't know how important the result is today, but we know how important it is to win matches, especially at home; we have to be extra good if we want to compete for those spots."
When asked if his games in hand could give them an advantage over Chelsea and Manchester United, he responded
"We have the possibility of going above them, but the games in hand are not important; we have 14 games to go and we have to make the most of them."
The Gunners now have a long break before their next match, which is on March 6 against Watford.
Despite having played one fewer game, Wolves are now seventh in the Premier League table, six points behind Manchester United.
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