Arteta: Win over Spurs one of the 'nicest' feelings I've had at the Emirates

Mikel Arteta said the win over Tottenham at the Emirates this afternoon was one of the ‘nicest’ feelings he has had at the stadium.

The Gunners blew Spurs away in the first half, racing into a 3-0 lead at half-time before holding on for a 3-1 win in the second half.

And Arteta was full of praise for both his players and the fans, who created a rousing atmosphere at the Emirates.

He said: “It was one of the nicest feelings I have had in this stadium. It was a big game for us and to win the way we did and to feel that connection with the team and supporters made it really special.

“The players have a real sense of what a derby means and I think the fans will be very proud of what they have seen.

“When we didn’t have the fans it was impossible to connect with them. But we sense they want to support and we want to entertain. We all enjoyed the game and are all really happy today.”

Goals from Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka – who excelled themselves this afternoon – came either side of a strike from skipper Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, who was praised by the boss.

And after a disastrous start to the campaign – with defeats against Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City, Arteta believes his team have turned a corner.

He said: “I am really happy with the performance today and with the performance against Burnley. Auba put his head down and he is working really hard and now he is leading the team.

“Our team were really convincing from the start. We were super efficient. We have been lacking something in the final third, to hit the target more, but I think we did that very well today.

“To the fans I say thank you for creating this wonderful atmosphere today – thanks for everything and enjoy tonight.”

Nuno Espirito Santo was frank in his assessment of Spurs’ display. The Tottenham boss admitted afterwards: “Lots of things went wrong, including some of the decisions I made. I will not judge my players in front of you, I refuse to do that.

“In the second half we were more positive but the positives of the second half came when the game was almost lost. All the positives are very fragile in terms of the analysis that we should do.

“We have to recover then make better decisions. We started (the season) very well with a clear idea but we have lost it and it is taking us too much time to go back.

“We want to be solid and dominant but we are not that team. We need to help our players to develop into how they want to play football.

“We are disappointed because today was a special game for all of us and we didn’t achieve the standards that our fans deserve.

“To the fans I say I promise that we will try to fix it. That’s all I can say by words – after that it’s work.”