Arteta: The final score may not have fully reflected our actual performance on the pitch

After leading his team to a 1-0 away victory over Napoli in the opening round of the Champions League league phase, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta spoke in an interview with TNT Sports.

Mikel, this was a very difficult away match, but you eventually came away with three points. Are you satisfied with the team's performance and work tonight?

Yes, I think we fully deserved the three points. I can't remember exactly how many scoring chances and dangerous attacks we created tonight, but I think the final score may not have fully reflected our actual performance on the pitch. In an extremely difficult away environment, against a very strong opponent, I think the final score should have been bigger. In terms of the overall performance the team showed tonight, I think everyone was outstanding.

Regarding the style of play and performance the team showed tonight, what aspect satisfied you the most?

Everything: the way we fought and competed on the pitch, the players' attitude, the courage they showed, and the way we built and controlled the game. On top of that, we displayed excellent technical quality in many key moments and successfully broke through the opponent's defensive line — that is extremely, extremely difficult to do. Of course, the only disappointment is that we missed too many excellent scoring opportunities.

As you said, when those great opportunities keep appearing but are repeatedly missed, how difficult is it as a coach to remain patient like the players and continue creating chances?

But that is what we have to do. A great thing today was that many different players got into those highly threatening positions. On any other day, the result of the match would have been completely different.

I also want to mention Martin Odegaard. He has once again shown such excellent form at the start of this season. What kind of outstanding performances are you seeing from him at the moment?

Yes, all the players performed well, but Martin certainly made a crucial contribution — he directly changed and influenced the result of the match with his goal. That is exactly what we expect from our attacking players: to be decisive in important moments. There is no doubt that he did that again today.

This is a perfect start to the season, and I also saw the poster in the dressing room emphasizing 'winning under any circumstances.' How important is it for the team's unity and belief to win a match like tonight, perhaps in a slightly different way from some of the previous games this season?

Yes, we did win the match in this way. But as I have repeated, considering the huge number of chances we created, this game should have ended in a completely different manner.