Focus is on getting better, not on Premier League table: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

LONDON: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said that his focus is only on how the team can get better and he is not looking at the Premier League table.

Arteta's remarks came after his team secured a 3-1 win over Southampton in the Premier League here on Wednesday. With this victory, Arsenal are now placed in the eighth spot with 30 points.

"I don't want to look at the table, I want to look at ourselves and how we can get better, the reasons why we are performing better and winning more football matches and then get that consistency that we've been lacking. We just want to try to improve as a team. Tomorrow is another day so let's review the game, train, improve in the many areas we need to get better and then see where we get by doing that," the club's official website quoted Arteta as saying.

During the match, Stuart Armstrong handed Southampton a one-goal lead in just the third minute. Five minutes later, Granit Xhaka's excellent pass picked out Nicolas Pepe, who finished smartly to equalise.

Arsenal went ahead six minutes before half-time when Bukayo Saka scored a goal. Alexandre Lacazette then netted a goal in the 72nd minute, giving Arsenal a comfortable win.

Reflecting on the team's performance, Arteta said: "To come here and play the way we played after having a big chance in the first minute and not scoring, then conceding from a set-piece but still reacting the way we did with the way we played football against a really good side... The three goals we scored, overall I think we should be proud because it's never easy to come here against this team."