Arsenal lifted the pressure on manager Mikel Arteta as they secured their first points of the Premier League season with victory over Norwich City at Emirates Stadium.
Arteta was under mounting scrutiny after a miserable start to the campaign with three defeats that left the Gunners at the foot of the table, so a win that was workmanlike rather than spectacular will be gratefully received.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was back on target to set Arsenal on their way after 66 minutes, with a finish from almost on the goal-line after Canaries’ keeper Tim Krul turned Nicolas Pepe’s shot on to the post and the same player then struck the woodwork again.
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Arsenal had an anxious moment as referee Michael Oliver conducted a VAR check for offside before the Emirates Stadium celebrate with a mixture of elation and relief.
Arteta used his programme notes to call for patience after his side’s poor start to the season but he will know as well as anyone that the clock ticks on any manager who struggles to get points on the board, especially at a club with high aspirations.
He wrote: “We are trying to build a medium- to long-term project, which also needs immediate results. That only happens in elite sport and most importantly in football.”
And that immediate result was at least achieved to get Arsenal off the mark this season while scoring their first league goal of the campaign, even if it was hardly a convincing victory margin and achieved against a Canaries side who have now taken the Gunners’ place at the bottom of the table after a fourth consecutive league loss. (BBC)
