Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles said, “it’s always nice to get a win in front of the fans” after the Gunners secured a 3-1 win over Burnley on Saturday.
After a double from the Premier League’s top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ashley Barnes pulled a goal back for the visitors before substitute Alex Iwobi ended the contest for Arsenal in added time.
“Especially after losing two games in a row, it’s nice to be back to winning ways,” the 21-year-old said.
A tough game
In recent times Arsenal have been accused of being bullied by teams such as Burnley, but the Gunners stood up to their opponents on this occasion, showing a continuing change in mentality under Unai Emery.
“It was a scrappy game, but I think the boys dug deep and we got enough goals to secure the win. I found the game very tough. Every game is tough, it’s just about the mindset, the manager has always urged us to press and I think we carried that out pretty well today.
“I was just trying to encourage the boys as I go on and I’m just grateful to be out there."
Sokratis and Aubameyang also spoke after the match about Burnley’s physical approach to stopping Arsenal.
“Yes, it was a physical battle, it was really, really hard. Papa [Sokratis] loves games like this! But we won and that’s the most important thing,” Aubameyang said.
On his individual battle with Barnes, Sokratis added: “Sometimes it was too much, but I don’t think that was my mistake. I just stood up to go from the ball. But it’s ok, it’s football, it can happen.”
Arsenal overcome consecutive defeats
After 22 games unbeaten in all competitions, it had been a difficult week for the north London side who lost two games in a row for the first since August. But Maitland-Niles insisted that despite losing, the team managed to stay focused.
“The games [against Southampton and Tottenham] were over, there was nothing we could co about the last two games, so we focused on this one and look at the result today,”
The busy festive period continues for Arsenal on Boxing Day when they travel to Brighton, then face an extremely tough game with Liverpool on December 29th before a London derby with Fulham on New Year's day.