Arteta praises Arsenal grit after away win over Everton

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LIVERPOOL, England, Dec 20 - Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta enjoyed watching his side banish their recent struggles on the road with a 1-0 win at Everton on Saturday that puts them top of the table over the Christmas period thanks to a Viktor Gyokeres penalty gifted to them by Toffees defender Jake OBrien.

Recent draws away to Sunderland and Chelsea and a defeat at Aston Villa had seen Artetas side pegged back by Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, but Saturdays controlled performance against Everton suggested that they might be through the worst of a rocky patch on their travels.

(Winning was) very important. You need to enjoy the process of winning, and that is going to be a hard moment, a difficult moment, a great moment. Thats all part of that intention and how close we are to winning, and thats what we have to enjoy, Arteta said.

A former Everton player, Arteta knew how tough it would be to come to Merseyside and get a result in Evertons new stadium and despite the home sides dogged defending he felt that his team probably should have scored more goals

“We knew it would be a really tough match. In the second half we should have scored a second or third goal to be more relaxed. We didn’t do that and against this type of team it can be tense, the 43-year-old said.

The win put Arsenal back at the top of the standings with 39 points, two ahead of Manchester City who briefly took over top spot with a 3-0 win over West Ham United earlier in the day, but Arteta said that the placings