Mikel Arteta believes his substitutes “changed the energy” at the Emirates in Southampton’s 3-1 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday.
Arsenal came from behind to beat relegation-threatened Southampton 3-1 at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.
It took Cameron Archer’s opener to kick the Gunners up the backside, with Bukayo Saka inspiring the victory with two assists and a goal.
Gunners boss Arteta believes the players he brought off the bench made an important difference.
“The start was exceptional, the dominance, the chances,” he said. “It was unbelievable not to go one, two, three goals up.
“We conceded the goal and then it was game on. I thought the team reacted with a lot of authority and I am happy the team can react like this – but not happy after the chances we had that we had to go through that.
“The substitutes changed the energy and also the feel in the crowd. We won in the end and I think we deserved it.
“The way we started was phenomenal but we didn’t get our reward. We had a difficult context at 1-0 but we did it.”
On Kai Havertz, Arteta added: “He’s really hungry, such an intelligent player, he is so focused to achieve what he wants and was exceptional again.
“We lost so many players last international break, [it is a] very difficult schedule but this team finds a way. [It is a] good platform to continue the season.”
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Meanwhile, Southampton manager Russell Martin said he “loved the way we defended” but believes his players’ emotions got the better of them after Havertz’s equaliser.
“I think the game panned out how we thought it might,” he said. “They had the ball but I loved the way we defended.
“We asked for more courage on the ball and I thought we showed that. We had some really brilliant moments in the second half. When we scored we’d limited them to few chances.
“But they scored too quickly after that, it’s a mistake and we get caught losing the ball.
“I feel so much more positive and proud of my team than I did on Monday night, and we played against one of the best teams in the country. If we play like that in the next block of games I’d be very happy.
“Our mentality at 1-1 was much worse than when we scored. Emotions, it’s nice to score a goal, it’s a nice goal, but we have a problem and we concede.
“I think we’re learning and growing and we’re on a journey. But we’re doing it under huge scrutiny and the intensity of the Premier League. I have to keep the guys on track and on path.
“There’s a lot to be frustrated about, we don’t have enough points on the board and a win yet, but I loved all of our resilience today. I loved all of that and if we continue to grow I’m going to be happy.”
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