Bukayo Saka praised Arsenal’s defensive work as the basis for their 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Bank Holiday Monday, insisting the champions showed exactly the kind of resilience required for a serious title defence.
Saka’s close-range goal just before the hour mark was the difference between the two sides at Villa Park, the winger turning in Riccardo Calafiore’s low cross after a fluid move that launched the duo behind Villa’s high line.
It was Arsenal’s second successive win and second successive clean sheet to open the new season, with Mikel Arteta scoring his 250th goal. Premier League The game responsible for the club with the maximum number of points.
Saka said: “A very difficult match. Coming here is not easy, they made it difficult for us. It feels better to come out with a win.”
“The way they defended, really compact and with a high line, made us sneak in. We had to adapt to that. Unlike what we faced last week, we couldn’t execute our attacking style.
“One goal is usually enough for us because we are strong in defence. When we scored the first goal, we really opened the game. We wanted to push for the second goal.”
The winger pointed to the play of Arsenal’s full-backs as a key contributor to their attacking threat, before returning to the topic of their defensive performance as the defining feature of the match.
He said: “All the full-backs, the way they play gives us a lot. For us wingers, it opens the way for us, and we always have composure in the penalty area.”
“We weren’t at our best with the ball. Without it, we were unbelievable. As soon as we lost it, we were running backwards. We knew they like to play in transition. All the players made substitutions tonight. That helps keep clean sheets.”
Arteta talks about the depth of the team
Villa did not provide much in terms of attacking threat throughout, and did not register a shot on target in either of their opening two Premier League matches, the first time any team has achieved that since Swansea City in 2017-18.
However, Arsenal cannot afford to become complacent against a side affected by the 4-0 defeat to Brighton on the opening weekend, and Arteta admitted as much.
“This is a really difficult place to come and win the game. Last season we lost on the last kick of the game. They were injured after what happened last week. The team’s performance tonight was great,” he said.
Arteta was asked if this represents his strongest squad ever in terms of depth.
He said, “This is what we need. The players who enter make the difference. They all contributed to creating more dominance and more momentum.”
He added: “The level of concentration and the way they want to contribute to the team, that will be decisive in the season.”
