Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has admitted that his side had to "suffer" to come away with all three points against Watford on Saturday afternoon.
The clinical Gunners struck through Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli at Vicarage Road, but the hosts threatened through Cucho Hernandez and Moussa Sissoko's efforts.
Arsenal held on for three points which propelled them into the top four of the Premier League table, but Arteta was not completely happy with what he saw over the course of 90 minutes.
Speaking to reporters in his post-match press conference, Arteta said: "We were really good going forward and we had all the right intention and the energy to do it.
"We scored three magnificent goals but we didn't have the same energy and commitment defensively. When that happens, to win a game from home, you're going to suffer. That's why we suffered today - because defensively we didn't have the right structure.
"We didn't detect with enough urgency the moments where they could activate certain spaces that we knew. That's why we suffered. We conceded two and we could have conceded another one or two."
Arsenal now sit one point ahead of Manchester United with three games in hand after the Red Devils were thrashed 4-1 by Manchester City in the Etihad derby. body check tags ::
