Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal ‘fully deserved’ to beat Newcastle after dramatic late comeback win | OneFootball

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says his side “fully deserved” to beat Newcastle after coming from behind to win 2-1.

The Gunners fell behind after Nick Woltemade headed Eddie Howe’s side in front during the first half, but Arteta’s side rallied and equalised late on through Mikel Merino, before Gabriel popped up in the 96th minute to secure all three points for the visitors.

Victory sees Arsenal move within two points of league leaders Liverpool after their defeat to Crystal Palace.

Speaking after the match, the Spaniard felt his team did everything to warrant the victory.

“Pride and I think we fully deserved the win. The way we played and performed and competed. The chances we generated, we deserved to win. We did it into a dramatic way but we deserved to win.

“That is how you get to a different level. By going through those moments and taking the lessons from it. It was a massive opportunity to make a statement and to prove to everybody and ourselves the team that we are.

“They (Newcastle) are a terrific team and they are so difficult to play against. The level of consistency and quality we showed today was top.

“I think the way we played. The courage, the determination and the quality we played with today. We want to achieve the next level and to do that you have to come to these places and when there are some results yesterday, we wanted to show that conviction and desire to do it.

“You have to come to this place and you have to win. You have to find a way to do it and it was tremendous.

“We had to throw everything we had. I think Pope was exceptional. Fair play to him but we believed and I think we fully deserved to win it.”

Up next for Arsenal is the visit of Greek side Olympiacos to the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League.