Mikel Arteta Warns Arsenal Must Improve Calmness in Dominant Position

JAKARTA - Mikel Arteta warned that Arsenal must show more composure to finish games after his side claimed a hard-won victory over Brighton with a 2-1 score at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, December 27, 2021.

The Gunners got the victory they needed to return to the top of the English League table. It's just that the course of the match was really tense.

Arsenal managed to take a 2-0 lead through Martin Odegaard's goal (14') and Georginio Rutter's own goal (52'). However, Diego Gomez brought the visiting team back to life in the 64th minute.

The goal triggered a double motivation from Brighton to bombard the Gunners' defense. Fortunately, David Raya had to make a brilliant save with one hand to thwart the efforts of substitute Yankuba Minteh in the 76th minute.

In the remaining time, Arsenal defended more so that the incident against Crystal Palace would not be repeated when the opponent scored at the end of the match to equalize.

"When we conceded in the last minute, like the previous game against (Crystal) Palace, when we didn't concede at all, and then they scored with their first shot, of course it's like this."

"However, we also have to be able to get through it normally, show calmness and understanding that if you don't play well, you are not efficient against the opponent, then you have to be very good in your defense. That's also a good way to get through it."

"It's about the will to win. We all want to win so much that it's like not wanting to lose what we've achieved."

"We had to play to keep scoring and show that calmness and ability. We should have scored the third goal," Arteta said.

Meanwhile, in the match against Brighton, Arteta revealed that Riccardo Calafiori had a muscle problem during the warm-up.

Then, Jurrien Timber was also not included in the list of players after experiencing a problem that was not specified during training on Friday, December 26, 2025.