Mikel Arteta paid tribute to Arsenal’s set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover, for injecting his players with belief after their narrow win in the north London derby kept up the pressure on the Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Gabriel Magalhães’s second-half header from a Bukayo Saka corner was enough to give Arsenal a third successive victory at their arch-rivals for the first time since the 1980s as Arteta’s side overcame the absences of the suspended Declan Rice and injured captain Martin Ødegaard in midfield. It was the 17th goal they have scored from a corner since the start of last season and 42nd from a set piece since Jover was recruited from City in 2021.
The Frenchman led the wild celebrations with Arteta in the dugout, and asked whether he is the best in his field, the Arsenal manager said: “In his field, in other fields and as a person. And the relationship that we have – that’s why I made the decision to bring him to City when I was there and then to Arsenal.
“Him and the rest of the staff have injected the belief to the players that there are many ways to win football matches. This is a really powerful one and he has given us a lot. So a big compliment to all of them.”
Tottenham found themselves 3-0 down at half‑time in the corresponding fixture in April after conceding two goals from set pieces. Ange Postecoglou insisted last season that “there are far more important things that we need to concentrate on” but he has since recruited the former Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery to take charge of that area of the team.
Asked if they had spent more time working on set pieces during the week to counter Arsenal’s threat, Postecoglou said: “For some reason people think I don’t care about set pieces. It’s a narrative that you can keep going for ages and ages. I understand that. We work on them all the time but we paid the price today. It’s my burden to carry and I’m happy to do that. For us the way forward is to try and turn the football we are playing into something meaningful.”
The victory means that Arsenal head into the showdown at the Etihad Stadium next weekend trailing the champions by two points. They must first travel to Italy to begin their Champions League campaign against Atalanta on Thursday. Arteta revealed he is waiting for news on Ødegaard’s ankle injury and on Saka, who was replaced late on here after sustaining an injury.
“We have won three years in a row here. That’s a big thing,” the Spaniard said. “We have a big week coming up and that is going to give us a lot of motivation, energy and belief.”
