18 February 2023 , 17:03
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Former Arsenal title-winner Robert Pires has shared details of his private WhatsApp chats with Mikel Arteta before the Gunners' dramatic weekend victory at Aston Villa.
A three-game winless run had seen Arsenal relinquish top spot for the first time since August before their trip to Villa Park. After losing to Everton and drawing with Brentford amid VAR controversy, a midweek defeat at home to Manchester City saw Arteta's team slip to second.
Approaching stoppage time, the scores were level at 2-2 and it looked as though the winless run would continue. However, an Emi Martinez own goal and a late Gabriel Martinelli effort gave Arsenal victory.
“I sent him [Arteta] a message by WhatsApp,” Pires, told The Telegraph. “I told him, ‘Mikel, it’s OK. We trust you. You have to keep your head up.’ We have to support him in these moments.”
Arsenal started slowly on Saturday, though, as they struggled to take the initiative against Arteta's predecessor Unai Emery. Ollie Watkins put the home side in front inside five minutes, and Philippe Coutinho restored Villa's lead with his first goal of the season after Bukayo Saka had equalised.
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Oleksandr Zinchenko also opened his account for the season - and indeed scored his first-ever Premier League goal - to make it 2-2. Time was running out for the title challengers until the late drama, though, and Arteta praised his team's spirit after the comeback.
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A late Emi Martinez own goal helped Arsenal come away with all three points at Villa Park (Getty Images)"We showed a lot of character and resilience to get back twice in the game and end up winning it, and we have to take some lessons from today," Arteta told BT Sport. "Especially in the first half, we didn't do all the simple things right and you give them the chance to score those two goals in a really simple way.
"When you want to be at the top you are going to have to win games in many different ways," he added. "You're going to have to score goals in the 94th [minute] and sometimes play with 10 men and come back [to get] results.
"To do it, especially against this team in this stadium, credit to the boys. It was absolutely bouncing [in the dressing room] because it was a big effort to play less than 72 hours ago after the game that we had."
Arsenal had dropped behind Manchester City on goal difference after their midweek defeat, but the win at Villa Park moved them back to the summit. Pep Guardiola's City had a chance to leapfrog their title rivals with victory at Nottingham Forest, but a late equaliser from Chris Wood meant they remain second.