Mikel Arteta’s encouraging half-time team talk, according to Arsenal midfielder Jorginho, was the impetus for a comeback win over Aston Villa.
Jorginho played a vital role in Arsenal’s stunning comeback at Villa Park
The Gunners trailed 2-1 going into the break at Villa Park, before scoring three unanswered goals in the second half after relentless pressure.
Arteta‘s side twice came back from behind to edge out the six-goal thriller to return to the summit of the Premier League table.
Failure to beat Villa would have been five games in a row without a win for Arsenal in all competitions.
Arteta’s half-time team talk worked wonders as his side came from 2-1 down to win 4-2
It was Jorginho‘s strike from range that forced the own goal from Emi Martinez to fire the visitors into a 93rd minute lead.
The Brazilian-born Italy international crashed an effort off the underside of the bar, with the ball then ricocheting off Martinez’s head and into the back of the net.
And moments later, Gabriel Martinelli secured the crucial three points after running the ball home with Martinez stranded up the pitch having gone up for a corner.
Speaking to BT Sport after the match, Jorginho, who has quickly won over the Arsenal fans following his switch from Chelsea, said: “That’s the Premier League.
Jorginho’s strike from distance cannoned off the bar and onto the back of Martinez’s head before going in
“That’s why it’s the best league in the world. It’s just beautiful.
“It’s a very important [win], after the last results we had and the start wasn’t easy. We were not producing our game.
“But we came in at half-time and had a talk, and then we went back to doing the basics that we needed to do, and we changed the game.”
Boss Arteta was also quick to mention his words of wisdom to his players in his post-match interview to talkSPORT’s Sam Matterface.
Jorginho has quickly won over the Arsenal fans following his January move from Chelsea
The 40-year-old remarked: “When I see the reaction of [Oleksandr] Zinchenko and when I see the reaction of Granit [Xhaka] going through the pitch [to celebrate with the travelling fans from the bench]…
“At half-time I had to tell them, ‘What I said a few days ago is not because I think something is different, you have to do it and the moment is now. After 45 minutes it’s gone’ and they really reacted.’”
Asked if he told the squad they have to win at half-time, he replied: “It’s now, it’s now, it’s now. After that, it’s looking at each other, ‘we should have done that’.
“We have to raise individual level and do the simple things right and play with much more purpose and quality.”
Arsenal are set for another tough away trip next week when they return to the Midlands to face Leicester at the King Power Stadium.
source: talksport.com
