Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has hailed the reaction of Gunners fans to William Saliba's own goal in Saturday's 4-2 Premier League win over Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners found themselves 2-0 up in the first half thanks to Gabriel Jesus's brace before Saliba attempted to snuff out a Leicester attack by heading the ball back to Aaron Ramsdale.
However, Ramsdale had taken a slight step to his left and could not get across to Saliba's return, which ended up trickling into the back of the net to reduce the deficit.
Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli eventually put Arsenal out of sight after another response from James Maddison, and Arsenal fans did their best to encourage Saliba after his own goal.
The 21-year-old has quickly become a fan favourite at the Emirates since being integrated into the first team, and Arteta claimed that he had never witnessed such a reaction to an own goal in his entire career.
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"We are telling them every day that when we play we are getting better and better. What they've done today with William Saliba is something that in my career I haven't seen," arsenal.com quotes Arteta as saying in his post-match press conference.
"That shows the connection and to really be there when it matters and when it's difficult for somebody. We should be really proud to play in front of them because that was special.
"I think it really lifted the confidence of Wilo and how he played the last minutes after that and for the team as well. I am happier today than I was at Crystal Palace with him because the way he played after that was incredible."
Saliba otherwise put in a composed performance in Arsenal's second win of the season, where Jesus stole the show with two goals and two assists on his home Premier League debut.
The 25-year-old made Arsenal history as the first Gunners player to ever score twice on their Premier League home debut, as well as joining Theo Walcott as the only Arsenal players to score and assist twice in the same Premier League game.
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Arteta was unsurprisingly full of praise for Jesus, claiming that he would not have liked to have come up against him as a player.
"We know what Gabby can do. He scored two and assisted two and he's still disappointed in the dressing room because he said he could have scored four. That's the standard, that's the mentality that if you want to go to a different level you need that mentality," Arteta added.
"I wouldn't like to play against him. I have never been a defender but I can imagine that they don't enjoy it. He's so mobile, so intuitive and is always sharp and proactive to play in any moment and any phase of the game and he's a real threat.
"We are going to demand him to start a lot of games, so we have to manage that load and the way that we train is different. We have to be on top of that and hopefully we are."
Arsenal will endeavour to make it nine points from their opening three Premier League games when they travel to Bournemouth next Saturday evening.
Ben Knapton
