Kai Havertz highlighted the ‘incredible’ work of Arsenal’s defence after they recorded another clean sheet as Mikel Arteta’s relentless winning machine returned to the top of the Premier League following a 3-0 win at Brighton.
Manchester City piled on the pressure following a convincing win over Crystal Palace earlier on Saturday, and all eyes were on the Gunners on the south coast.
Arteta was able to bring the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus back into to the starting line-up and the returning duo played a crucial role in the opening goal.
After an even opening, the Gunners got a fortunate break when Jesus was felled in the box by Tariq Lamptey and Saka stepped up to convert the resulting penalty.
The Gunners doubled their lead just past the hour mark when former Chelsea teammates Jorginho and Kai Havertz combined to all but seal the points and Leandro Trossard put the icing on the cake with a late goal on the break.
Brighton, who were unbeaten at home since August, simply had no answer to an Arsenal defence which has now kept a club-record five straight clean sheets away from home and Havertz was quick to praise the collective resilience of the Gunners’ backline.
‘We must win our matches and see where that brings us,’ said Havertz after the game.
‘We are ready for the challenge and we are up for it. Every week we play at the limit and maybe we can play better.
‘The attitude and work-rate of the boys is phenomenal and everyone put everything into that game – that is why we are successful right now.
‘The boys at the back, what they are doing is outstanding and everyone is involved in that. We try to get the ball high up the pitch, but how they defend the box is incredible.
‘We have to keep on going, we have another big game in the midweek.’
On his own growing confidence, Havertz, who now has a person best nine Premier League goals for the season, he said: ‘Definitely when you feel that you are so strong at the back it helps you a lot.
‘I am enjoying myself and I will try to help the team, I hope to keep on going forward.’
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