Mikel Arteta says Arsenal looked ‘very dangerous’ but lacked two important things in Europa League victory

Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal looked ‘very dangerous’ in their 3-0 win over Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League, though they were found lacking when it came to ‘consistency and domination’.

Arsenal sent an early warning to the visitors when summer signing Fabio Vieira hit the crossbar just nine minutes in. Eddie Nketiah put Arteta’s men in front with 23 minutes on the clock. Kieran Tierney slammed a left-footed drive against the post and Nketiah did well to direct the rebound over the line.

And Rob Holding doubled Arsenal’s lead just a few minutes later. Vieira sent a curling cross into the box which was met by Holding as he brushed his marker aside before heading into the bottom corner.

Arsenal went into the break 2-0 up. Nketiah had a great chance to secure his brace late in the second half when he was sent through on goal by Martin Odegaard. However, the striker got underneath the ball and sent his shot way over.

Arsenal got their third and final goal not long after that. Substitute Gabriel Jesus showed off some brilliant footwork to beat two players on the byline before pulling it back for Vieira, who smashed into the top corner.

Mikel Arteta reacts to Europa League win

During a post-match interview with BT Sport (via BBC Sport), Arteta praised his team for how deadly they were in attack. However, he was hoping for more from the wider performance.

“I’m really happy with the win, six points and a clean sheet,” Arteta revealed. “But we lacked connection between the players. We lacked consistency and domination through the game.

“There were eight changes, you could feel that, the timing was missing.

“In the final third we looked very dangerous, the goals we scored were good goals.”

When asked about making the substitutions in the second half, Arteta continued: “A few players, you could see they had a different intensity, not enough exposure in terms of minutes, so we had to make changes.”

Nketiah hails ‘electric atmosphere’

In a post-match interview with BT Sport, goalscorer Nketiah said: “A good win. The atmosphere was electric today.

“They started well second half, we dominated first half then dropped.”

When asked if he was playing for a Premier League start, Nketiah added: “It’s nice to get two wins, two goals, I just have to keep doing what I can.

“Everyone has to play their role, so we have to keep fighting.”

Arsenal are now top of Europa League Group A after making it two wins from two in the competition. Their next European clash is against the same opponents in a week’s time.

Before then, the Gunners host top-four rivals Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are reportedly rivalling Atletico Madrid for the signing of an in-form Champions League player.