The reaction from Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta after their clash at Wolves on Saturday was lively, as expected, as his side rallied to win late.
Arteta was not happy with the red card to Myles Lewis-Skelly and praised his team for their display.
Arteta celebrated wildly with the away fans at the final whistle as Arsenal put in a commanding display in difficult circumstances, with captain Martin Odegaard missing out through illness. After going down to 10 players in the first half when Myles Lewis-Skelly was controversially sent off, Arsenal dominated the second half as Joao Gomes was sent off for Wolves.
Moments later Riccardo Calafiori made it 1-0 to Arsenal and that’s how it ended, as the Gunners kept the pressure on Liverpool in the title race.
Mikel Arteta reaction to Arsenal win at Wolves; Calafiori reacts to big win
Speaking to our partners in the UK at Sky Sports about the performance, Mikel Arteta praised his players.
“Incredible. What the boys did again, again the context we were thrown into. Again it is about the character, the personality of the team. It was about the courage, the intelligence to play the game we wanted to play. It was exceptional,” Arteta said.
Asked about the controversial red card for Lewis Myles-Skelly, Arteta was livid with the decision.
“I think it is that clear I will leave it to you guys. I am absolutely fuming but I leave it with you, because it is that obvious that I don’t think my words are going to help,” Arteta said.
Arteta said he had no explanation from the officials about the decision, and was asked if Arsenal will appeal the decision.
“That’s for the club to decide what is the best decision. It is that obvious that maybe we don’t even need to.”
Lewis-Skelly was upset after being sent off, understandably, and Arteta was asked how he was feeling now.
“He is really happy now that the team won and found a way to win it. And is very worried about what is coming next because he was strongly feeling that he was nothing to do with the action,” Arteta added.
Asked about Arsenal’s plan after going down to 10 players in the first half, Arteta praised his players for their display.
“It was very clear what we have to do, something very different is to be able to do it with the quality and how consistently we did it throughout the second half. I am so thrilled with the team, how it competes in any context.”
“We are not going to stop, we are going to keep going. This team has the experience and will to fight against anything. And they showed that again today.”
Arteta also praised Calafiori for his beautiful finish.
“He has got it and it was needed. He has got a magic moment he can produce. He’s been out for a few weeks, he comes back and really helps the team.”
And does this win give Arsenal a boost in the title race?
“Obviously a lot of things happened, today some more things happened. Yesterday we lost Mikel [Merino], today we lost Martin [Odegaard] this morning, and we are still going. That is what I love about the team,” Arteta added.
Arsenal goalscorer Riccardo Calafiori spoke to our partners in the UK at Sky Sports about the win, and his winning goal, after the game.
“It is so important and we want to win the next one,” Calafiori said. “I was joking with my teammates that I can only score goals like this! I must focus on the easier things, but this one is my job.”
Asked about Lewis-Skelly’s red card, Calafiori believed it was the wrong call.
“From the bench it was clearly not a red card,” Calafiori said. “I saw him at half time and he was so disappointed for the team. At the end we won, so nothing happened. He was upset but I think now he’s happy because we won. He’s a good player and a good guy and we will help him a lot.”
“The strategy was not to put ourselves in a defensive mood and to try and score and win the game. And we did.”
“It was so important for us. It was the first time we won [this season] after a red card. It is so important for us and we are going to continue like this.”
