EPL 2021-22: "We won ugly" - Mikel Arteta after Arsenal eclipses West Ham United

Fourth-placed Arsenal came up with a spirited performance to edge past seventh-placed West Ham United 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in London on Sunday. With this win, the Gunners remain well within the top four race and even for the top three. Meanwhile, club head coach Mikel Arteta has termed this win 'ugly'.

As for the match, Arsenal opened the scoring, with Rob Holding striking in the 38th minute with Bukayo Saka's assist. While Jarrod Bowen helped West Ham equalise seven minutes later through an Vladimir Coufal's assist, it was locked 1-1 at half-time. Gabriel struck in the 55th minute after Gabriel Martinelli came up with the assist, as it was the winner to give the Gunners the three points.

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Following the victory, Arteta spoke to Sky Sports, during which he said, "We won ugly, and big teams have to find a way to win ugly when they don't play at their best. With the ball we were really poor. We lacked composure, dominance to play the game we wanted to play, but we found a way through set pieces, through defending extremely well."

"To win here is credit to the boys. They showed the spirit we have. I'm still digesting several things we didn't do right, but as a team to grow in confidence and to continue with the moment we have, we've won against three big teams in a row," added Arteta.

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Arteta concluded by speaking on Arsenal's current three-game winning streak against top teams, saying, "I love that. We need that to win football matches. You have to find a way. You have to play the game that is necessary to play when you are not at your best, and we did that in a lot of moments."