Mikel Arteta hailed Kai Havertz as "unbelievable" after the Germany international's star turn against Paris Saint-Germain. (More Football News)
The 25-year-old put Arsenal on the path to a 2-0 home win over PSG in the Champions League on Tuesday with a well-timed run and header in the 20th minute.
After taking 10 games to get off the mark for Arsenal last season, it was his fifth goal for the club in the 2024-25 campaign and he was deservedly named Player of the Match.
Havertz got both of his two shots on target, while also playing one key pass as he scored just his second goal in his last 14 Champions League appearances, with his other goal coming for Arsenal in November 2023 against Lens.
"He has been unbelievable. His football brain, the way he understands space, his timing, he brings people together," said Arteta.
"His work ethic is incredible and now he is a real threat around the box. He is one of our main players at the moment."
It was a satisfying night for Arteta, whose team dominated one of Europe's heavyweights in the first half and then comfortably contained them after the break, with Bukayo Saka doubling the Gunners' tally before half-time.
Saka has now been directly involved in eight goals in six home Champions League appearances for Arsenal, with all five of his goals coming at the Emirates. In Champions League history, only three players have more goals with all coming at one stadium – Diogo Rincon at NSK Olimpijs'kyj, Esteban Cambiasso at the San Siro and Lee Bowyer at Elland Road (six goals each).
"Really, really happy with the performance. We played an opponent that has a lot of personality, is really difficult to deal with when you don't have the ball," he said.
"The first half was very dominant and we created a lot of chances and then the second half was a different story.
"We suffered much more than we should have done. The Champions League brings different demands but I think we handled it really well."
Victory, following the 0-0 draw away to Atalanta, propelled Arsenal to eighth in the 36-team table and Arteta said it was far too early to start predicting how many more wins his side will need to qualify automatically for the last 16.
"I'm not even looking at the table," he said. "But I think it will be a long journey."
Another boost for Arsenal was the sight of new signing Mikel Merino coming off the bench for his first appearance in the second half after missing the start of the season with injury.
On the downside, full-back Jurrien Timber was forced off at half-time with a muscle issue.
"He was unbelievable in the first half, but he felt something muscular and he wasn't certain," Arteta said of the Dutchman.
"So I didn't want to take any risks. He's been out for a year and he's played a lot of minutes, probably more minutes than we would have wanted in the past few weeks."
The Gunners' defensive grit was also on show. Arsenal have kept 17 clean sheets in 32 games in all competitions in 2024, the most of any Premier League side. Indeed, across Europe's big-five leagues this year, only Real Madrid have kept more (18).
