Martin Odegaard and Aaron Ramsdale have sent a strong message to title rivals Manchester City after Arsenal’s 2-0 win at Newcastle. Odegaard told Sky Sports after scoring in the victory: “We showed something special here today. To come here and win is not easy. We had to be very smart and to be ugly at times. It is a big step for a young team like ours to come here and do the things we did. It shows we have come a long way. Last year here was one of the toughest days of my career, to be honest. After dropping points against Man City, to win against Chelsea and then come here and win shows the mentality. We have to keep going and digging in and fight until the end [in the title race]. It is football, anything can happen and we need to be ready.”
Ramsdale added: “We’ll be going as hard as we can for three games. It’s not in our hands at the minute, but we’ll be pushing every step of the way. Hopefully if they slip up, we’ll be there to pick up the pieces. We’ll be looking on from the wings.”
Arsenal midfielder Jorginho also commented on the intimidating atmosphere at Newcastle, saying it gave them ‘fire inside’. He said: “This atmosphere is so beautiful. It motivates us to play and gives us fire inside. I have played a few [big games] before. We dream this as a kid and now it is time to enjoy it, it is beautiful. The most important thing is that we go home with three points, as we wanted. We know this league, we know we can’t win every game playing beautiful football. I am really pleased to see that our team can play these type of games and understand it is not always possible to just go through with passes. Sometimes you need to fight. I am proud to see us fight to the end.”