Every word Mikel Arteta said on Ethan Nwaneri display, Gabriel Jesus goal and Bukayo Saka sub

Thoughts on tonight?

Very good. We talked about that - play with enthusiasm in these games, play with the right attitude and commitment, we certainly showed that so very happy to be in the quarter finals.

How impressive was Ethan?

He did it yesterday in training so we’re getting used to that. He’s a big talent, he’s got the right attitude, he’s got the right players and context around him and we need to make sure that we put brick by brick. But we have some player there!

How do you avoid stifling him now?

He’s going to really dictate how that’s gonna go. But I’m really, really happy with him.

What type of character is he?

Well so much character there. He wants to make every ball, he wants to make things happen. Outside, around the boys, he’s still a bit quiet but that’s usual. He’s still only 17 years old. His work ethic is tremendous and he loves what he does.

How much did he need that goal?

It was since January I think. That’s gonna unlock that thing mentally and move on. But I think had a good performance tonight.

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Were any of the half time subs forced?

No, it was planned. We have a lot of issues in the backline. We wanted to share the minutes, because we lost Gabi, we lost Ben as well on top of other players. We wanted to be competitive but we had to make sure that we protected players because we have a lot of big games coming up.

With Ethan are we seeing someone on the verge of making a breakthrough in the first team?

Certainly! If not he wouldn’t have played tonight, he wouldn’t have played three days ago against Liverpool. He’s there. He’s showing every day what he’s capable of. You see his teammates, they give the ball all the time. That’s a great sign. We’ve got some player there.

What can that goal do for Gabi’s confidence?

I’m very happy, I think it’s going to unlock that for him. He looked really happy. He’s performing with the right attitude as always but he needed that feeling that he can put the ball in the back of the net.

Unbelievable goal by Nwaneri wasn’t it?

It is unbelievable but he does it in training almost every day. He’s got this quality, this personality, he’s there to make things happen. He doesn’t care whose around him, if he needs to make the decision on his own he does it. He scored a fantastic goal tonight.

Was Saka coming on to build him up to peak fitness?

Yeah because he’s in the rhythm and he has that exposure with us. He always says ‘once I’m here I prefer to have a few minutes’. As well we wanted to protect Gabi because he had quite a big impact in the first half so it worked quite well.

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