Mikel Arteta joked that he knew Arsenal would put seven past PSV Eindhoven as he hailed an historic and unbelievable night for his players that all but secures their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
A double from Martin Odegaard and individual strikes by Jurrien Timber, Ethan Nwaneri, Mikel Merino, Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori sent Arsenal on their way to a thumping 7-1 triumph – their biggest away win in the Champions League.
It marked a remarkable reversal in fortunes for Arteta’s previously goal-shy side, who arrived in the Netherlands with three blanks from their last four outings and their Premier League dream up in smoke.
But when asked if he could ever have envisaged such a scoreline, Arteta said with a smile: “I knew it was coming.
“That is the beauty of football. Nobody in this room, if I gave you an envelope and said, ‘can you predict what’s going to happen tomorrow and who is going to score?’ would have predicted it. But that’s the beauty of football. You put your head down, be humble, and analyse how you can improve.
“We will enjoy tonight because it was a very impressive performance and an unbelievable score. We deserve that and I’ll take it. Today, we were exceptional.”
Following a 1-0 defeat against West Ham and a goalless draw against Nottingham Forest in the league which leaves them 13 points adrift of Liverpool, Arsenal’s campaign had been in danger of fizzling out.
However, Arteta’s men answered Timber’s pre-match call to change the narrative with an electric performance on the European stage – admittedly against a utterly lightweight PSV side – to put them on the brink of a last-eight match-up against either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.
Without a recognised striker, Timber opened the scoring for the Gunners after 18 minutes before teenager Nwaneri and makeshift forward Merino extended Arsenal’s advantage inside half an hour.
Noa Lang gave PSV hope from the penalty spot only for Odegaard to score 60 seconds after the restart, with Trossard adding the fifth a minute later.
Odegaard doubled his tally with 17 minutes remaining and Calafiori completed the devastating rout – which surpassed Arsenal’s 5-1 win against Inter Milan in 2003 as the club’s biggest away from north London in the Champions League – in the closing moments.
Commenting on his side’s record-breaking night, Arteta continued: “It’s something that hasn’t been done in the history of the club, so it is great to be part of that. But as a team we want to achieve many other things that are far more important.
“It’s very significant and we are in a strong position to go through to the next round. And that is the reality. But to put down landmarks we have to really make it to 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, which is where we want to be. But there’s still a job to do in London for sure in a week’s time.”
The second leg, effectively now a dead rubber, will take place at the Emirates Stadium a week on Wednesday, with the Gunners back in action in the Premier League against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
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