Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has warned his players that they must learn how to manage games better following their thrilling 5-2 win at West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Arsenal raced into a 4-0 lead inside 36 minutes before being pegged back twice through goals from Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson. Bukayo Saka slotted home a penalty in first-half stoppage-time to restore Arsenal’s three-goal lead.
According to Arteta, the Gunners made the match “crazy”.
“We made it crazy, we played so well at the start of the game. We scored three early goals and then they scored one immediately after kick-off and then another one – then it was game on. We have to manage the game – we did that really well. The last two games were tricky and to score goals is a big one,” Arteta told BBC.
Saturday’s game at the London Stadium tied the Premier League record for the most first-half goals in a match (seven). It is only the fourth time in history that seven goals have been scored in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League match — the last occasion coming in Manchester United’s 4-3 win over Reading in December 2012.
“I didn’t know that record,” Arteta said. “But it tells you how crazy it was, how efficient both teams were in front of goal. It was a spectacular 30 minutes and straight away [you could see] how much the team wanted it, the purpose, determination and quality that we deliver to score three great goals in different ways and then score the fourth one in a great way as well.
“But then after that, we had a period where the individual quality of them played a big part, 4-2 and then it is game on. You can sense the energy change and [you think] what’s next? It was great to score the fifth one because obviously that calmed everything down and in the second half we could play a very different game that was much suited for us.”
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