Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff proved just how quickly emotions can shift during a game of football.
Not for the first time at the Emirates Stadium this season, the Gunners had to come from behind to claim all three points in the Premier League. Having already done so in London derbies against Fulham and West Ham United, there's an argument that Sunday's comeback against Manchester United was a bit more special.
Trailing to a Marcus Rashford effort, Arsenal didn't take too long to equalise through Eddie Nketiah's header in the first-half before Bukayo Saka and Lisandro Martinez traded goals after the break and as the game entered injury time, a 2-2 draw was on the cards despite the home side dominating.
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However, Nketiah had other ideas as he reacted quickest to the loose ball in the penalty area to flick the ball past David de Gea and spark wild scenes from players, supporters and the Arsenal bench alike. Although, those celebrations were briefly put on hold because of the VAR check.
Once the goal was confirmed, Arteta went from urging the fans to make more noise to discussing tactics with assistant coaches Steve Round and Albert Stuivenberg. As spotted in the club's latest 'Bench Cam' video, seconds after Nketiah's goal is allowed to stand, the Gunners boss turns to see Erik ten Hag readying Alejandro Garnacho for action.
From there the Spaniard turns to his coaching staff and in unison, they held up three fingers - which one can safely assume was a tactical instruction to switch to a back-three as seconds later Rob Holding replaced captain Martin Odegaard with the Gunners looking to repel any attacking threat from the visitors.
During his post-match press conference, a visibly delighted Arteta spoke about his emotions, especially when waiting to discover if Nketiah's goal would stand or be ruled out following a VAR check for offside.
"I don’t know but I don’t think it gets better much than that. It was a beautiful moment, a really special one because we were pushing and pushing and pushing and it wasn’t coming. It came at the end - VAR made it more difficult - but it was electric and really emotional and really passionate and I loved it.
"Especially after coming back. Winning the London derby (at Spurs), the way we played and then playing a team that has a completely different way of playing. Going down straight away against this team is dangerous because you can start to attack in ways that they’re going to punish you.
"We came back to 2-1 and it was exactly what happened at Old Trafford. At 2-1 we were in control and they scored. It was a moment where if emotionally you’re not sound and not intelligent enough to understand what the game needs now, you’re going to lose it. We did the opposite and we got better and better. We fully deserved to win the game."
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