In his post-match interview with Match of the Day, Arteta lauded Jorginho but made a point of praising the team’s emotional maturity in the way they fought back.
“Today I think we can take two big lessons,” the manager said. “In the first half, we did the simple things wrong and in the second half we raised our individual level and did the simple things right. We totally merited the win.
“Jorginho produced an incredible moment. For us it will be Jorginho’s goal. Psychologically it was really tough to get that result against Manchester City and then less than three days later we come to Aston Villa and win, which is a difficult thing to do.
“We showed character, quality and had the right temperament and personality. We didn’t throw our toys away. Emotionally I think we coped really well.”
Arsenal’s joy on Saturday was added to by Chris Wood’s late goal for Nottingham Forest, denying Manchester City the three points they needed to go back to the league’s summit.
Now, the Gunners are back in control of their own destiny, sitting two points clear with a game in hand.
The criticisms of previous years – that the team is flaky, soft-centred and struggles to match intensity – had resurfaced in recent weeks but have been put aside again, for now.
Next up is a trip to a dangerous Leicester side, before Everton, the team that beat them only two weeks ago, head to Emirates Stadium.
There are plenty more challenges to come for this team – but after overcoming this one at Villa Park, they have shown they are capable of rising to those that lie ahead.
