Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - April 20, 2024 Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reacts Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
WOLVERHAMPTON, England (Reuters) - Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta was delighted at how his side bounced back with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers to return to the top of the Premier League table after a disappointing week that saw them knocked out of the Champions League.
A loss to Aston Villa in their last league game put a spanner in the works for their title chances and the midweek loss to Bayern Munich in the last eight ended their European hopes but Saturday's win over Wolves got them back on track.
"It was a very good response, so proud of them. We reacted in the right way. We deserved to win the game and got another clean sheet again," Arteta told the BBC.
"Obviously disappointed to lose against Bayern -- small margins but we have five games to go and we are top again."
Arsenal lead the standings on 74 points, one point ahead of Manchester City and three in front of Liverpool, although both their title rivals have a game in hand over the Gunners.
"We've been really consistent defensively and that's the platform needed to win games in this league. All we can do is win our games," Arteta said.
Wolves boss Gary O'Neil was happy with how his side pushed Arsenal all the way, only conceding the second goal deep into stoppage time at the end of the game.
"It's not often you are pleased and proud after a defeat but in our current situation to produce energy and fight like that was an incredible effort. The negative would be the second goal, the lads didn't deserve to lose 2-0," he said.
"It's an incredibly young team and squad that gave one of the best teams in the country a run for their money."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
