Mikel Arteta said he knew that Arsenal's goal came to PSV Eindhoven when he greeted a historic and incredible night for his players who almost secured their place in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
A two -squeeze from Martin Odegaard and individual strikes by Jurrien Timber, Ethan Nwaneri, Mikel Merino, Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori deserved Arsenal a banging 7-1 Triumph – their biggest way victory in the Champions League.
It meant a remarkable reversal in Fortunes for the earlier target squad of Arteta, who arrived in the Netherlands with three spaces of their last four trips and their Premier League title in smoke.
But when he was asked if he could ever have provided such a score, Arteta said with a smile: “I knew it would come.
“That's the great thing about football. Nobody in this room, if I gave you an envelope and said,” Can you predict what will happen and who will score? ” Would have predicted it.
“We will enjoy it because it was a very impressive performance and an incredible score. We earn that and I will take it. We were exceptional.”
Arteta about creating history: we want to achieve more
After the 1-0 defeat against West Ham and the scoreless draw against Nottingham Forest in the competition, leaving 13 points on Drift of Liverpool, the Arsenal campaign was endangered.
The men of Arteta, however, answered Timber's pre-match call to change the story with an electrical version on the European stage, albeit against a completely lightweight PSV side-to put them on the edge of a last-eight match-up with Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.
Without a recognized striker, Timber opened the score for the Gunners after 18 minutes before teen Nwaneri Nwaneri and forward forward Merino extended the benefit of Arsenal within half an hour.
Noa Lang gave PSV Hope only for Odegaard from the penalty place to score 60 seconds after the restart, with Trossard added the fifth a minute later.
Odegaard doubled his count with another 17 minutes and Calafiori completed the devastating route – which surpassed Arsenal's 5-1 victory against Inter Milan in 2003 as the largest of the club, away from North Londs in the Champions League – in the last moments.
Arteta responded to the record -breaking night on his side: “It is something that is not done in the history of the club, so it's great to be part of it. But as a team we want to achieve many other things that are much more important.
“It is very important and we are in a strong position to continue to the next round. And that is the reality. But to set up orientation points, we really have to achieve a very different level. It means a lot, but that is not what we want.
“I am happiest because we are in a very strong position to go to the next round, where we want to be. But there is still a task to do in London in a week.”
The second stage, now a dead rubber, will take place at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday 12 March, with the Gunners back in action in the Premier League against Manchester United in Old Trafford on Sunday, living on Sky Sports.
RICE: We played the whole season like this
Arsenal -Midfielder Declan Rice speaks with Amazon Prime Sport:
“We were fluent, we had enthusiasm. We were the drive and hunger, they are the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
“But we played the whole season in this way. We talked about a story, but we players feel that we have done well. Sometimes we score five or six, sometimes we score two or three, sometimes we can lose with one.
“That is where we have to keep pushing as a team with the mentality, and we did.
“When they returned to bring it 3-1, we could have sitting back. But you went on and you saw that with the goals we scored in the second half. A huge performance. Now to the home game, nothing has been done. We will see what is happening.”
Will Arsenal go all the way?
Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher on CBS:
“Arsenal is never a team that we have placed as potential winners, but there are many large teams that have already gone out.
“One of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are out, PSG or Liverpool will have disappeared and Arsenal is now guaranteed in the quarterfinals in April.
“The international break is coming and then you might have Gabriel Martinelli come back and Bukayo Saka is not too far away.
“Arsenal is very strongly defensive, but can they give a real Madrid or Atletico Madrid an end to their money with those players back?
“For Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal team there was perhaps a lack of trust and there was a feeling of supporters who were dissatisfied, that result feels great for them to almost get back on track.
“What we have seen in recent weeks is not the arsenal that we have met in recent years.
“This result will give them a lift in the coming weeks because there is still enough to play for.”
'A gap in class'
Tim Sherwood looking at Sky Sports News:
“They didn't have to worry about goals, there was a gap in the classroom. They had to do it well, they stream the crowd. It is carnival time in Eindhoven and they came a party, but Arsenal quickly closed them.
“It was incredible how she shifted the ball and opened it. The movement was very good. Merino played like a nine, I looked at him closely. If he didn't touch the ball, he occupied the center halves and made room for rice and odegaard to make late runs.
“Nwaneri, the little superstar, drove in different positions. They just had too much for them and they were really a class above. Without a recognized center-forward they had too much firepower.”
Analysis: Arsenal enjoys the carnival
Sky Sports News' Gail Davis in Philips Stadium:
After having spent almost every awake moment talking about Arsenal's inability to score in recent days, they go out and put seven past PSV.
There is of course a context about the result and that was the terrible defense of the home team, sometimes really terrible, but Arsenal and Arteta don't care.
Three goals in 13 minutes, 99 seconds between Arsenal's fourth and fifth in which the momentum they had created and then survived De Wiebel just before half -time, arteta would have satisfied.
After a difficult few months, Odegaard would have enjoyed his double, Rice looked back on his threatening best and Nwaneri is an absolute pleasure to look in the entire flight – nothing seems to be confusing this teenager and he is not afraid to make the shot.
It was smart of Arteta to remove Lewis -Skelly from the shooting line – he did so much good this season that it would be sad to see it overshadowing with more disciplinary problems.
I was worried if the game could not realize the drama, the spectacular and the glare of the warming act of the Eindhoven carnival – not such a problem.
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