Key events
Mikel Arteta said his Arsenal team had played some of their best football of the season in Saturday’s 3-0 home win over Fulham and demanded that they take the positive feelings into the return leg of their Champions League semi-final against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday.
He said: “It says to us and toward our dressing room that we keep the dream alive. hat what these guys have done, not now, but throughout the season to win that many games is remarkable. Because I think it’s going to help on Tuesday. What we want now is to use that momentum, energy and belief towards Tuesday.
“This was a critical game. We know the importance of the win and the manner that we’ve done it and the goal difference in the Premier League and because this game was going to carry a lot of energy towards the next game, which is one of the biggest in the history of this stadium. We’re going to try to make it happen.”
Asked if the first-half performance against Fulham was Arsenal’s best of the season, Arteta responded: “It certainly was one of the best. We talked about hunger, about having the ability to focus and be so determined on what we had to do.”
Arsenal cruised past Fulham yesterday to move six points clear at the top of the Premier League table. The Gunners had not won a game by more than a two-goal margin since their 2-0 Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen on March 17. However, a double from Viktor Gyökeres and a strike from Bukayo Saka eased any nerves.
Manchester City, who have two games in hand, must now beat Everton away tomorrow to keep pace with their title rivals.
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! We have three Premier League fixtures to look forward to this afternoon, including a huge meeting between rivals Manchester United and Liverpool and a must-win match for Tottenham against Aston Villa. Bournemouth also play host to Crystal Palace at the Vitality Stadium.
We also have plenty to recap from yesterday as the Championship, League One and League Two reached a conclusion.
All that and more will be covered this morning and throughout the day – so join us!
