Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli has talked up the "family" feeling at the club following their 3-2 victory over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon.
The Brazilian opened the scoring after only 58 seconds to give the Gunners a perfect start to the match, before a brace from his fellow 21-year-old Bukayo Saka sealed the win after equalisers from Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino.
The result sends Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League table, with Mikel Arteta's side having now won eight of their opening nine games to sit one point clear of Manchester City.
"It means a lot for us. We have been working hard and we deserve the win and we need to keep going because the season is long and we want to achieve good things," Martinelli told Sky Sports News.
"We are running for each other and we are a family, everyone is on their toes and we deserved the win. It doesn't matter your age, it's your heart and how much you want to achieve in football and life.
"That is the most important thing. We need to believe and go game by game trying to win all of them."
The victory was only Arsenal's second over Liverpool in the league since 2015, and Saka believes that it is more evidence of the progress made by Arteta's team.
"In the past two or three years, Liverpool have been a team we have struggled against. To win in front of our fans is special and it shows how much we are progressing," the England international added.
"It gives us more confidence because they are a fantastic team and we have a lot of respect for them. I feel like we deserved to lead at half time so to get that goal was crucial. I want to score more now. I had what I was going to do in my mind [for the penalty] and I stuck with it."
Saka memorably missed in the Euro 2020 final penalty shootout for England last year, and Arteta credited the 21-year-old for having the courage to step up for what proved to be the match-winning moment.
"He practices every day but it's different in training when we put him under pressure to here today but credit to the boy, especially with what happened a year ago," the Spaniard told Sky Sports News.
"There were a lot of moments and the threat they have they can open you up, but we showed a lot of composure and character. It was the best way to start because of the belief it generates in the stadium, so we're really happy.
"We could not get out [before half time] because we were not good in our build up and to play the ball inside is very difficult. We started to lose some duels and we needed to hang in there to get to half time.
"[The half-time team talk] was lively but we wanted to give confidence and tell them the game was there for the taking. [In the second half] the organisation was better, the timing of the press, we won every second ball.
"I was really happy. You are always in doubt with the changes and how many players they were putting on or last lie but the players dealt with it with a lot of maturity and composure."
On Martinelli's man-of-the-match display, Arteta added: "When you see where he is a year ago from when he played against Brentford to where he is today is phenomenal but it is his desire to train hard every day.
"It is a nightmare to play against him and we know we have a real threat up front."
Arsenal will next be in action against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night, before travelling to Elland Road to take on Leeds United next weekend. body check tags ::
