Mikel Arteta hailed the reaction of David Raya after the goalkeeper bounced back from a mistake to help Arsenal beat Tottenham.
Arsenal secured a huge three points in the Premier League title race after a 3-2 win at Tottenham, though had to survive a second-half fightback from their North London rivals to claim the win.
The Gunners had led 3-0 at half-time through a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg own goal, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz, though an awful error from Raya allowed Spurs back into the game.
The Spaniard’s poor pass, as Arsenal played out from the back, was seized upon by Cristian Romero, who slammed in to reduce the deficit. Spurs captain Son Heung-min scored a second from the penalty spot late on, though Arsenal hung on.
Arteta was full of praise for his team, as he reached 100 wins as a Premier League manager, and hailed the reaction from Raya, who helped alleviate pressure with a number of claims from crosses after his mistake.
“Credit to the opponent it is a beautiful stadium with a great atmosphere and we know how much it means to north London. We gave it away and made a huge mistake, but the reaction from my players [was good],” Arteta told BBC’s Match of the Day.
“David Raya stood up and took six-to-seven crosses and that is what we want and if you are going to take risks you have that reaction – I am really proud of them [players].”
On the risk of playing out from the back against a high-pressing team, he added: “It is worth it depending on the game context. That error is not bad luck it is execution and the moment before that the picture was not what we wanted it.
“It is a team that has the ability to hurt you, they take a lot of risks in the possession – they are difficult to play against. They have quality and in the game context it allows us to sit deeper which we didn’t plan to do a lot.
“It was really difficult one and to do it two years in a row [win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium] is even more difficult.”
Read – Arteta’s prayers answered as Arsenal edge North London derby
See more – Ranked! The best North London derbies of the Premier League era
