Mikel Arteta was not getting carried away as his Arsenal side secured a battling 1-0 win at Manchester United in their 2025/26 Premier League campaign opener.
The Gunners needed to dig deep in the closing stages at Old Trafford with No.1 David Raya called into action to get the win secured.
United goal keeper Altay Bayındır's costly error from a corner allowed Riccardo Calafiori to bundle home a 13th minute opener for the visitors.
That proved to be enough in the final stages, as Arteta's defensive plan paid off, and Arsenal head back to North London with three important points.
It was far from a vintage Arsenal performance, with just three shots on target compared to United's seven, and they were behind in most attacking metrics.
Arteta was pragmatic in his post-match assessment and even channelled his inner Erling Haaland by reminding his players about humility over fortunate goals.
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"I look at the players faces and they want much more. We know we are much better than certain moments we played today," as per BBC Sport.
"I think before I came here it was 18 or 20 years since we won at Old Trafford but now we come here and win many times and we're still unsatisfied.

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"It's massive [to get the result], to come here with the atmosphere and the new signings. But, we have to be humble about how we scored the goal, and how the game was won in both boxes, and we did that today."
Another win extends Arteta's superb record against United as Arsenal boss as the Spaniard moves up to eight wins, two draws and just two losses from 12 league clashes with the Red Devils.
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