Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hailed his side’s resilience and declared they are ready to “go to the next level” in the Premier League title race after a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory at Newcastle on Sunday.
The Gunners trailed to Nick Woltemade’s first-half strike and looked set for a damaging defeat until Mikel Merino equalised with six minutes remaining.
Gabriel Magalhães then completed the turnaround with a 96th-minute winner to move Arsenal within two points of leaders Liverpool, who had lost 2-1 at Crystal Palace a day earlier.
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Having finished runners-up in each of the past three seasons and without a league title since 2004, Arteta believes his Arsenal side showed they are now equipped to challenge.
“We discussed that to go to the next level, first of all, you have to learn from the past, and certainly we take some lessons and very sore moments from this ground,” said Arteta, reflecting on Arsenal’s previous struggles at St. James’ Park.
“Today was an opportunity the game brought us in a really important week in the Premier League after all the tough places we’ve already been, very early in the season, to show who we are, who we want to be, our ambition, and the way we want to play. I think the team showed that today in a remarkable way.”
The victory ended a run of three consecutive defeats for Arsenal at Newcastle and silenced doubts over their title credentials after failing to beat direct rivals Liverpool and Manchester City earlier this season.
