Arsenal continued their winning form on Saturday as the North Londoners ran out 2-0 winners over bottom of the table Wolves at Molineux. A brace from club captain Martin Odegaard earned the Gunners all three points from the clash, meaning they enter the World Cup break top of the table.
A loss for Manchester City earlier in the day also helped extend their lead at the summit to five points, with a mid-season break until late December now between them and continuing a Premier League title push. Heading into the month off due to the World Cup in Qatar, Mikel Arteta was very pleased with his side, who have exceeded expectations this season.
"I probably need a week or so to do that [reflect]," the manager said after the Wolves victory. "But obviously, nobody expected us to be where we are right now and the number of games that we managed to win.
"But I’m more focused on our way of playing and our way of living together and the atmosphere that we have in this dressing room and around [London] Colney and the bond that we are creating with our supporters in our stadium and the relationship between every member of the club. That’s much more powerful and now the aim is to focus on playing better every day."
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Reaching this stage of the season has been a group effort from the whole squad, even when some players are playing in the Premier League much less than others. The likes of Reiss Nelson, Fabio Vieira and Eddie Nketiah have played their part when called upon in the division.
It was Vieira who was depended upon against Wolves in unexpected circumstances as Granit Xhaka had to be substituted early with an illness. The Portuguese midfielder has been inconsistent so far for the Gunners and has had to be patient for his opportunities in the team, but he took them on Saturday.
The 22-year-old grabbed an assist for the opener, dancing past the opposition defence to cut the ball across the box for Odegaard to tap into an open net. Vieira was then pictured punching the air in delight towards the coaching staff, who all then responded to it to cap off a moment of delight.
It comes after a tough few weeks for the playmaker. However, his joy shows how much faith the side have in the plan currently being set out by Arteta, even when playing in more reserved roles in the squad. It's that ethic that has seen them rise to the top of the table and could keep them there for the foreseeable future.
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