On Sunday, Arsenal grabbed a vital three points thanks to a brilliant strike from Bukayo Saka at Elland Road, in what was a hugely stressful game for Mikel Arteta.
The Spaniard watched his side concede a penalty – which Patrick Bamford missed – before Chris Kavanagh awarded Leeds another spot kick in stoppage time and handed Gabriel Magalhães a red card, only for VAR to reverse the decision.
Arteta must have been pulling his hair out, although an interesting piece of footage shows just how important the 40-year-old was in the victory.
Arteta footage shows why Saka lifted his goal for Arsenal
In the 35th minute, Saka put Arsenal 1-0 up with an unusual finish, in which he somehow found the roof of the net from a very tight angle.
The England international smashed a powerful shot above Illan Meslier from the right side of the box, and footage of Arteta has since emerged which shows why the Arsenal No.7 knew he had a chance of success with that particular type of finish.
As you can see above, Arteta explains how a forward would have a better chance of scoring if he puts a bit of lift on the ball from a tight angle, which is exactly what Saka did when beating Meslier.
Saka & Arsenal will win things with fine details such as this
On another day, the 21-year-old squanders that half-chance and Arsenal drop two points.
However, this specific, situational based training which Arteta clearly drills into his players at London Colney won the Gunners all three points on a day of fine margins.
In our view, small details such as this will prove vital if Arsenal are to win silverware this season, including the Premier League title.
Just look at Liverpool over the past few years. They have twice lost the Premier League title to Manchester City by just a single point, as a result of costly draws in tough games similar to the one Arsenal overcame on Sunday.
Some players may get tired of Arteta obsessing over the tiniest of details, but as seen at Elland Road, his desire to cover all bases can only be a good thing for Arsenal.
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