Since signing for Arsenal, he’s scored big goals in wins over Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Chelsea.
Arteta was asked about Havertz’s big-game mentality and said it’s important for Arsenal to have a player who has ‘been part’ of winning major trophies.
“And today he was ready, I could see from the disappointment the other day that he wanted to play immediately and the action of the goal, both from Gabi and him, is fabulous.”
Arteta was delighted with Arsenal’s performance in Portugal and said his team had a point to prove after consecutive defeats. The North Londoners face Sporting in the return leg at the Emirates next week.
“Extremely happy, obviously. It was a big night, a big moment in the season,” the Spaniard said.
“Especially where we’re coming from. I think we had a point to prove. And yesterday I talked about identity and the things that I wanted to see on that pitch. It certainly happened. Certainly there was a shift there. And then we played our opponent. It’s very tricky, very difficult to play. That’s the reason why they won 17 games in a row here. They haven’t lost for a long, long time and really had to earn it.
“We had moments of real dominance with a lot of situations in and around the box without creating enough threat sometimes. Lacking to be a bit crispier, the movement a bit sharper, the final ball. But we took the game where we wanted. But after saying that, we knew as well that it’s a team extremely dangerous when they have space to run and they have two situations where David had to intervene in a brilliant way.
“And then, again, the story of the season, the finish is coming when the most important part of the game is about to happen and then make the difference for us to go and win it.”
