Mikel Arteta hails Leandro Trossard impact after Arsenal beat Wolves - 'He's a little magician'

Arsenal beat Wolves 2-0 on Saturday night to return to the top of the Premier League table and manager Mikel Arteta was at pains to point out the contributions of two of his key stars.

The Gunners scored a late goal in each half against Wolves, through Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard respectively, and Arteta hailed the impact of Trossard in particular.

He said: "Trossard, great player. He's a little magician.

"He can score on any surface and he's a big threat; so composed, so cool, he can play in different positions. It's just a joy to have him in the team.

"I think the timing of the first goal was really helpful as well. [I am ] really happy."

Since joining from Brighton in January 2023, only Odegaard and Bukayo Saka have had more goal contributions than Trossard's 21.

Another key contributor for Arsenal was goalkeeper David Raya.

The Spain international's save from Joao Gomes at 0-0 was a crucial moment in the match.

When asked just how crucial, Arteta said: "Very, because we didn't concede anything up to that point. We had some very open situations that would have changed the game for sure.

"David was outstanding in that moment to make the save that we needed and then we took advantage."

Raya, who will become the sixth most expensive goalkeeper in history if Arsenal trigger the purchase option in his loan from Brentford, has come under some scrutiny, but Arteta defended his stopper.

He said: "I think he's been very consistent throughout the whole season. The numbers are proof of that."

For the Arsenal boss, the fact that his team have come through such a busy period and sit top of the table is a credit to his players.

He said: "If you look at the amount of games we've played in the last few weeks, the types of games that we have played and the attitude and the way they played it's top."

Continuing, Arteta said: "It's within them. They want to win, they want to compete at their best and their effort is unquestionable. The results are something but I'm really happy for the approach and the mentality of the team."

The Arsenal boss explained how he and his players had dealt with their European exit at the hands of Bayern Munich just days before another important Premier League clash.

He said: "We stayed in Munich. I think we had an hour or two hours of sleep. Wake up, start to talk about Wolves, then about what the players need, how we're going to get into the best mental and physical condition to win this game and to beat them."

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