Mikel Arteta reveals why PSV thumping was unpredictable as Arsenal make Champions League history | OneFootball

Gunners boss praises attacking display from his side in Eindhoven

Mikel Arteta watched his Arsenal side thump PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League

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Mikel Arteta believes no one - not even him - could have predicted Arsenal’s record victory over PSV Eindhoven.

Arsenal, as a result, became the first team in Champions League history to score seven goals away from home in a knockout stage match.

The victory was all the more impressive given Arsenal’s recent attacking struggles and they came into this game having failed to score in each of their past two games.

Asked if he knew it was coming, Arteta said: “No.

“In football, and you do very well today, put your head down, be humble, analyse how you can improve.

“Because the next game is going to be completely different to this one, and nobody can write the script, unfortunately, even if we would like to.

“I really enjoyed the match. Thank you to the players for the performance that they put in. It was a big night for us against a really good side.

“The way they went through in the last round against Juventus was really impressive. The manner that we've done it, the way we played, the goals that we scored. Thank you because it was a special night.”

Goalscorer: Jurrien Timber set Arsenal on their way in Eindhoven

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Jurrien Timber opened the scoring and the Gunners raced into a three-goal after goals from Ethan Nwaneri and Mikel Merino, too.

PSV pulled one back before half time thanks to a Noa Lang penalty, but Arsenal added four more after the break.

Martin Odegaard bagged a brace, while Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori also got in on the act.

“We had them ready to take initiative,” said Arteta. “When you come to this stage, you really have to play and love the game and take the initiative and go for it.

“And today, we have a full-back on Myles [Lewis-Skelly] that puts a cross in for the opposite winger.

“You have Jurrien scoring as a header, as a full-back. And they have Ricci making a movement as a nine and scoring with the right foot. That’s what I'm talking about, flow, courage and about playing the way we want to play.

“It’s obviously given us a lot of joy and confidence and belief. In football, it’s not what we did three days ago or today, it’s going to be what we do tomorrow.

“We go to Old Trafford, how we behave, how we play and are we able to win a game. That’s it, enjoy tonight because it was a very impressive performance and an unbelievable score. We deserve that and I’ll take it and keep improving as a team.”