Mikel Arteta, Arsenal's manager, spoke after his team overcame Crystal Palace to secure a place in the semifinals of the English League Cup.
Mikel Arteta, the "Gunners" manager, said he was extremely happy after his team won the penalty shootout 8-7 against Crystal Palace following a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes, advancing to the English League Cup semifinals. He also praised his players' composure and quality in taking penalties.
At Emirates Stadium, Arsenal took the lead 1-0 through an own goal by Maxime Lacroix of Palace. Then, in the 90+5th minute, Palace equalized 1-1 through Marc Guehi. Ultimately, the match went to a penalty shootout, where Arsenal performed better to progress as planned.
Arteta said, "I am very happy. We've reached the semifinals, which was our goal. I am truly pleased and even more so when considering everything we've done, including the unity and quality the team showed against a highly disciplined team like Crystal Palace."
"We created several chances, and the goal difference should have been greater. But after 94 minutes, we couldn't increase the lead. When that happens, teams with quality can hurt us from set pieces, and we conceded an equalizer (in the 90+5th minute), which is emotionally hard to accept after the way the game had gone."
"Sometimes we have to credit the opponents and how they played. But I think the goal difference should have been bigger—three or four goals—and then we wouldn't have worried about what happened in the last minute."
"But I think we remained calm. We showed composure and excellent quality in the penalty shootout. I'm very happy for Kepa, who finally saved the last penalty, and we advanced."