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Mikel Arteta insisted he saw “positives” in the relationship between his Arsenal players and the Emirates crowd although they were booed off after beating beaten by Chelsea on Sunday evening.
The Gunners fell to a 2-0 defeat in north London after Romelu Lukaku scored his first ever Chelsea goal on his second debut for the club and Reece James netted a sublime goal.
Arsenal have suffered back-to-back defeats to start the new Premier League season and Arsenal supporters made their discontent known at the final whistle as some booed their side’s performance.
But speaking to Sky Sports post-match, Arteta insisted he was pleased with how the fans greeted his players throughout the match, which was the first in a sold-out Emirates for nearly 18 months.
Arteta admitted of the victorious Chelsea: “They were the better team. When they play at their best, which I think they did today, they are champions of Europe, have world class players and to match at that level is difficult.
“You can always do things better. In the first half it took us a long time to regain the ball in wide areas. We concede two goals but the way the team responded and the crowd never gave up, it gave us hope in the second half.”
Asked about the smattering of boos from the crowd at the end, Arteta added: “I see a lot of positives with the crowd today. The way they supported the team from the beginning.
“I saw a good reaction. It is one of the difficult moments. The circumstances are difficult and unprecedented. Feeling sorry for yourself doesn’t help. You have to win football matches, keep it together and show spirit.
“Starting tomorrow in training with the players which did not play [we must improve]. We need to win the game midweek [against West Brom in the Carabao Cup] and that will help against Manchester City next weekend.”
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