admitted he was pleasantly surprised to see Bukayo Saka step up and take his side’s decisive penalty in last night’s win over Chelsea.
Saka, 20, converted a high-pressure spot kick as the Gunners beat their rivals 4-2 at Stamford Bridge and roared back into top four contention.
The winger suffered heartbreak last summer after he failed to score his penalty for England in their shootout defeat to Italy in the final of the European Championships.
Arteta believes Saka has responded well to his Three Lions disappointment and praised the young starlet for taking responsibility against the Blues.
He said: ‘No. I thought Gabi (Gabriel Martinelli) was going to take it and when I saw that Bukayo was going to take it, honestly, the first thing I thought was back in the summer and what happened.
‘But again, I said to you guys, when that happened to Bukayo it happened for a reason. He learned so much and he’s been through so much that’s why he’s having the season he’s having today.
‘For him to have the courage to say ‘’I’m going to take it again’’ – because I’m sure it would have been in the back of his mind – for me it’s top order, even if he missed it.’
Saka, himself, added: ‘We wanted to give the fans something to believe in us and we did that. We showed fight and character. It’s a huge result.
‘It means a lot to us. Losing three games in a row is really difficult.’
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