Mikel Arteta insisted Arsenal should “stay humble” after a remarkable thrashing of PSV in the Champions League.
The Gunners stormed to a 7-1 victory in the away leg of the round-of-16 tie – an outcome boss Arteta admitted no-one could have seen coming.
But he added:”That’s the beauty of football. You put your head down, be humble, and analyse how you can improve.
“But we will enjoy this because it was a very impressive performance and an unbelievable score. We deserve that and I’ll take it. We were exceptional.”
Amazing night for Arsenal
Martin Odegaard scored twice and Jurrien Timber, Ethan Nwaneri, Mikel Merino, Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori also netted for the Gunners – who ran riot despite playing without a recognised striker.
After Ismael Saibari missed a great chance for PSV early on, firing against the bar from eight yards, Arsenal scored three times in the space of 11 first-half minutes.
Timber headed in Declan Rice’s cross, Nwaneri curled a beauty in the top corner after being teed up by fellow academy product Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Merino’s cool finish made it 3-0.
The lead was reduced a couple of minutes before half-time when Noa Lang thumped in a penalty after Thomas Partey had fouled Luuk de Jong.
But Arsenal responded with two goals in the space of a minute shortly after the break.
Odegaard tapped in after Nwaneri’s ball across the box was parried by keeper Walter Benitez, before Trossard linked up with Riccardo Calafiori on the left and slotted home the fifth.
‘Still a job to do’
Benitez made a complete mess of dealing with Odegaard’s curling effort, allowing the ball to squirm past him and into the net.
And the rout was completed when Calafiori fired into the far corner after being found by Odegaard.
The result makes the second leg essentially a dead rubber, with Arsenal all but sure of a place in the quarter-finals.
But Arteta insisted: “There’s still a job to do in London for sure in a week’s time.”