Mikel Arteta praises Arsenal’s hard fought victory against Aston Villa and singles out Aaron Ramsdale for Bernd Leno support as injured goalkeeper joins celebrations

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Mikel Arteta praised Arsenal’s character in their victory over Aston Villa and was particularly happy with Aaron Ramsdale.

A 1-0 win at Villa Park got the Gunners’ Champions League pursuit back on track as they extended their advantage to four points over fifth placed Manchester United.

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Arteta was well aware of the significance of the victory as his side edge ever closer to a Champions League return

After defeat to Liverpool in midweek, the pressure was on Arteta’s side to bounce back and ensure they keep their top four rivals at bay.

Given how they performed throughout and restricted the hosts from creating clear cut chances, Arsenal were full value for the three points.

Even without their first choice goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, because of injury, his stand in Bernd Leno was more than assured.

And speaking after full-time, Arteta was keen to praise the 23-year-old, who also joined the celebrations at the final whistle, for showing support to his teammate.

“That shows why he’s helping in the club, which at the moment he realises he could not play,” the Spaniard said to talkSPORT.

“Bernd was ready and played a really good game, and Aaron said ‘I want to be next to him, because Bernd has been next to me every time he had to be there’ so he’s a great example.”

BT SPORT

Ramsdale celebrated with Leno at full-time

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Whilst delighted with Leno, Arteta will hope to have Ramsdale back as soon as possible.

Unfortunately for Gareth Southgate though, he will not be able to call on him for England’s upcoming friends against Switzerland and Ivory Coast.

The former Manchester City assistant coach said it was highly unlikely he will be joining the Three Lions.

“I don’t think so,” he said when asked if Ramsdale will be fit for England.

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Ramsdale has been an impressive figure in the Arsenal goal this season, keeping 12 clean sheets in 24 league matches

As for the match, Arteta was over the moon with how his side performed against Steven Gerrard’s team.

“Yeah it is a big win for us after the defeat we had against Liverpool,” he added.

“In my opinion [today] was a very, very strong performance, we needed to come here and show that we’ve taken another step forward, and I think we showed we played with a lot of authority, dominance and emotion, and [we were] very clear about what we had to do in the game.

“The character, the quality, the understanding, how they are preparing for matches, back then we were lacking this.

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Bukayo Saka was the hero for Arsenal yet again scoring his ninth league goal of the season

“I think that’s a big step,” Arteta said when finding out Arsenal had won five consecutive matches away from home for the first time since 2015.

“It’s the direction we want to take, that we can go to any ground and impose our game and play the play we want to play and win.

“The pressure to play for this club is really big and you have to show that in every game.”

“What you did last week doesn’t really matter, or tomorrow, so focus on today and what you can control.

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Arteta’s side theoretically have 10 cup finals left to qualify for next season’s Champions League Betting Offer Of The Day

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