Arteta: This is my best week as a head coach

Mikel Arteta said Arsenal’s victory over Everton ensured this was his “best week” since taking over as head coach as his side battled to a third win in eight days.

Arsenal are now unbeaten in 10 matches under Arteta, and have won four of their last five games in all competitions.

Two goals from Pierre-emerick Aubameyang and a strike from Eddie Nketiah guaranteed a hard-fought victory over Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton yesterday, three days after a taxing trip to face Olympiacos in Greece.

“The best thing is the spirit we showed after coming back from Europe,” said Arteta. “And coming back after we went behind. The resilience they [the players] showed after they were absolutely shattered. Winning three games in eight days – sure it is my best week.”

The Spaniard was delighted with his team’s response to falling behind in the first minute, when Dominic Calvert-lewin struck for Everton after a defensive mix-up.

“This is part of the game, and this is the reaction I am hoping for from my team,” Arteta said. “There are things we can’t control.

“Unexpected things are going to happen: one day they score, one day playing with 10 men, another day it will be the referee. But we kept going, we kept trying. We started to do the things we talked about and we generated the chances and the type of game we wanted.”

Ancelotti was critical of his side’s defending, saying mistakes were made with their “positioning” which cost them in key moments.

“Defensively we were poor,” said Ancelotti. “We conceded two goals too easily. We were not in good positions defensively. Also their third goal was an easy mistake.

“We have two fantastic strikers but we need to defend better. The only good thing is we know what we must do this week. I don’t know if it is a problem of mentality or other problems. Our positioning was a tactical mistake in my opinion.”