Arteta Addresses Mosquera Injury After Arsenal's Narrow Win Over Villa
Mikel Arteta moved quickly to calm any nerves around Cristhian Mosquera after Arsenal’s narrow 1-0 win at Aston Villa, insisting the young defender is “fine” despite being forced off in the second half at Villa Park.
With the champions clinging to a one-goal lead and already without Jurrien Timber, Arteta refused to gamble. Mosquera felt a problem coming on, and that was enough. The manager turned to new signing Ezri Konsa, throwing him into a hostile environment on his old ground, to a chorus of jeers from the home support.
“We knew that if we had an injury on the back line with Jurrien out, we'd be in big trouble – so we had to do Ezri,” Arteta said after the game, his side now boasting two wins from two in their Premier League title defence.
“Mosquera could not continue, so we know the depth has to be really big when we're fighting for four competitions in the manner that we play as well. He's fine, but he was feeling like he was about to have something, and that's why we have the bench that we have, and that's why we had to bring Ezri in.”
If Konsa felt the weight of the occasion, he did not show it.
“Ezri makes a debut in really difficult circumstances; it's not easy emotionally to come here and play. But he looks so composed, so calm, so in control,” Arteta added, pleased with how his reshuffled defence saw the game out.
A win without the gloss
This was not the swaggering Arsenal that blew teams away last season. It was something more pragmatic, more stubborn.
Arsenal needed just one shot on target to decide it, Bukayo Saka striking shortly before the hour after a sharp move down the left. That moment of precision cut through a cagey contest and, once in front, the champions dug in.
Riccardo Calafiori, who supplied the assist for Saka’s winner, admitted the display was far from perfect but exactly the kind of performance title winners must produce on difficult nights.
“I'm so happy with the clean sheet, especially when I talk with the guys – the defenders – I always say that if we don't concede, we obviously have much more chance to win the game, and I think we always do so well,” the full-back said.
“At the end of the game, it's so important for us, especially at a tough place like this one, we just want to win when we come here and we did it.”
Arsenal’s pre-season had raised some alarms at the back. They shipped more goals than Arteta would have liked, and the defensive structure looked loose. That memory is still fresh in the dressing room.
“In pre-season we were upset, I think we conceded too much, but then as the season started, we have all the players back,” Calafiori explained. “We fight, and you see how we do mistakes sometimes, but how we track back with the runs, it's unbelievable, and each player, even the attackers, so I'm so happy.”
Calafiori now has two assists for the campaign, his understanding with Saka already sharpening into a genuine weapon down the flank.
“I'm just so happy to pass the ball to B,” he said. “As I say, it was a tough, tough game, we need these kind of moments, you know, to change the game – and we did it.”
Arsenal left with three points, a clean sheet, and a minor injury scare that never quite became a story. On nights like this, when the champions grind rather than glide, the question isn’t how pretty it looked. It’s how long they can keep churning out wins like this across four competitions.
