Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hails historic Champions League night for Gunners at PSV Eindhoven - 'I knew it was coming'

Mikel Arteta said he knew Arsenal's goal glut against PSV Eindhoven was coming as he hailed an historic and unbelievable night for his players that has all but secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

A double from Martin Odegaard and individual strikes by Jurrien Timber, Ethan Nwaneri, Mikel Merino, Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori earned Arsenal a thumping 7-1 triumph - their biggest away win in the Champions League.

It marked a remarkable reversal in fortunes for Arteta's previously goal-shy side, who arrived in the Netherlands with three blanks from their last four outings and their Premier League title dream up in smoke.

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But when asked if he could ever have envisaged such a scoreline, Arteta said with a smile: "I knew it was coming.

"That is the beauty of football. Nobody in this room, if I gave you an envelope and said, 'can you predict what's going to happen and who is going to score?' would have predicted it. But that's the beauty of football. You put your head down, be humble, and analyse how you can improve.

"We will enjoy it because it was a very impressive performance and an unbelievable score. We deserve that and I'll take it. We were exceptional."

Arteta on creating history: We want to achieve more

Following the 1-0 defeat to West Ham and the goalless draw against Nottingham Forest in the league which leaves them 13 points adrift of Liverpool, Arsenal's campaign had been in danger of fizzling out.

However, Arteta's men answered Timber's pre-match call to change the narrative with an electric performance on the European stage - admittedly against an utterly lightweight PSV side - to put them on the brink of a last-eight match-up with either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.

Without a recognised striker, Timber opened the scoring for the Gunners after 18 minutes before teenager Nwaneri and makeshift forward Merino extended Arsenal's advantage inside half an hour.

Noa Lang gave PSV hope from the penalty spot only for Odegaard to score 60 seconds after the restart, with Trossard adding the fifth a minute later.

Odegaard doubled his tally with 17 minutes remaining and Calafiori completed the devastating rout - which surpassed Arsenal's 5-1 win against Inter Milan in 2003 as the club's biggest away from north London in the Champions League - in the closing moments.

Commenting on his side's record-breaking night, Arteta continued: "It's something that hasn't been done in the history of the club, so it is great to be part of that. But as a team we want to achieve many other things that are far more important.

"It's very significant and we are in a strong position to go through to the next round. And that is the reality. But to put down landmarks we have to really make it to a very different level. It means a lot but that is not what we want.

"I am happiest because we are in a very strong position to go to the next round, which is where we want to be. But there's still a job to do in London for sure in a week's time."

The second leg, effectively now a dead rubber, will take place at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday March 12, with the Gunners back in action in the Premier League against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

Rice: We have been playing like this all season

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice speaking to Amazon Prime Sport:

"We were fluid, we had enthusiasm. We had the drive and hunger, it's the knockout rounds of the Champions League.

"But we have been playing like this all season. We spoke about a narrative but we players feel like we've been doing well. Sometimes we score five or six, sometimes we score two or three, sometimes we can lose by one.

"That's where we need to keep pushing as a team with the mentality, and we did that.

"When they came back to make it 3-1, we could have sat back. But we pushed on and you saw that with the goals we scored in the second half. A massive performance. Now on to the home game, nothing's done yet. We'll see what happens."

Will Arsenal go all the way?

Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher on CBS:

"Arsenal are never a team we put up as potential winners, but there are a lot of big teams that have already gone out.

"One of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are out, PSG or Liverpool will be gone and Arsenal are now guaranteed to be in the quarter-finals in April.

"The international break is coming and then you are maybe going to have Gabriel Martinelli coming back and Bukayo Saka is not too far away.

"Arsenal are very strong defensively but could they give a Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid a run for their money with those players back?

"For Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal team, maybe there was a lack of confidence and there was a feeling of supporters being disgruntled, that result feels big for them to almost get back on track.

"What we've seen over the last few weeks is not the Arsenal we've come to know over the last couple of years.

"This result just gives them a lift over the next few weeks because there is still plenty to play for."

'A gulf in class'

Tim Sherwood watching on Sky Sports News:

"They did not have to worry about goals, there was a gulf in class. They had to do it right, they quietened the crowd down. It is carnival time in Eindhoven and they came to have a party but Arsenal soon shut them up.

"It was incredible how they shifted the ball and it opened up. The movement was very good. Merino playing as a nine, I watched him closely. If he was not touching the ball, he was occupying the centre-halves and making space for Rice and Odegaard to make late runs.

"Nwaneri, the little superstar, was drifting into different positions. They just had too much for them and they really were a class above. Without a recognised centre-forward they had too much firepower."

Analysis: Arsenal enjoy the carnival

Sky Sports News' Gail Davis at Philips Stadion:

After spending almost every waking moment over the last few days talking about Arsenal's inability to score, they go out and put seven past PSV.

There is a context around the result of course and that was the dire defending from the home side, truly awful at times but Arsenal and Arteta won't care.

Three goals in 13 minutes, 99 seconds between Arsenal's fourth and fifth seizing the momentum they had created and then surviving the wobble just before half-time would have pleased Arteta.

Odegaard would have enjoyed his double after a difficult few months, Rice looked back to his menacing best and Nwaneri is an absolute joy to watch in full flight - nothing seems to faze this teenager and he isn't afraid to take the shot on.

It was smart by Arteta to pull Lewis-Skelly out of the firing line - he has done so much good this season it would be sad to see it overshadowed with more disciplinary problems.

I was worried whether the game could live up to the drama, the spectacular and the sparkle of the warm up act of the Eindhoven carnival - no such problem.

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