After Kai Havertz’s late goal on Saturday night against Brentford lifted Arsenal to the top of the Premier League, Mikel Arteta gave a hearty round of applause to the “adorable” German.
Havertz helped Chelsea win the Champions League in 2021, but since moving across London to play for Arsenal in the offseason, he has had a rough time.
As he headed home in the final minutes, the 24-year-old midfielder finally showed Arteta why he had spent £65 million ($80 million) to sign him.
Arsenal is now one point ahead of second-place Manchester City, who were held to a 1-1 tie by third-place Liverpool earlier in the day. Havertz’s second goal for the club was his first in his past ten games.
“The lovely thing about life is that. These moments are made considerably better when obstacles are faced and overcome, according to Arteta.
“People responded to him in that way today for that reason. It’s because he is a pleasure to work with and he is adorable. He is the only one who truly deserves that victory.”
Arsenal’s third straight victory in all competitions shown that they have moved over their contentious November 3 VAR-assisted loss at Newcastle.
After winning the League Cup at the Gtech Community Stadium in September, Arteta’s team left late to make another victorious trip to west London.
We are at the top of the table, and I love to win. We have to desire to be here,” Arteta remarked.
“You have to seize the chance to bite everyone when it presents itself.
“I was quite interested to see how the team would do. Winter has arrived, it was really cold, and getting to Brentford is challenging. I admired the team’s competitive spirit.”
Because David Raya, the goalkeeper for Arsenal on loan, isn’t allowed to play against his parent team, Aaron Ramsdale started his first league game since September 3.
Ramsdale’s father recently blasted Arteta for how he handled the goalkeeping dispute at Arsenal, where the England international unexpectedly lost his starting spot to Raya in spite of having the second-most clean sheets in the Premier League the previous year.
However, Arteta’s belief in Raya was reinforced when Ramsdale, whose confidence was obviously impacted by his stint on the bench, came dangerously close to giving Brentford the lead with a terrible error early in the first half.
Yoane Wissa put pressure on Ramsdale as he attempted to play out from the six-yard box following Gabriel’s back ball, causing him to panic.
The final word goes to Havertz.
After Ramsdale’s effort was missed, the ball rolled to Bryan Mbeumo, whose attempt was blocked by Declan Rice off the line, and Wissa missed the rebound.
Ramsdale’s unsteady play eluded Arteta, who only stated, “I am really happy with the team and the way the team played and we kept the clean sheet.”
Arsenal had a sluggish start, but they soon picked up steam when Trossard headed a cross from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel nodded into the side net.
After Gabriel Jesus met Bukayo Saka’s cross with a header that Mark Flekken parried, Arsenal appeared to have taken the lead when Leandro Trossard nodded in from close range in the 42nd minute.
However, a VAR examination determined that Trossard was just barely offside, adding to Arteta’s anger with the review process.
Zinchenko did a fantastic job of clearing Neal Maupay’s header off the line, but the French attacker wasted the rebound by poking it wide. Brentford almost made Arsenal pay for their inaction.
Havertz won it in the 89th minute after coming off the bench, so that turned out to be a pivotal moment.
As Arteta leaped with pleasure on the touchline, Saka’s cross found Havertz running to the far post, and the German directed his header beyond Flekken.