Mikel Arteta has achieved Arsenal dream as £100m double transfer decision pays off

Despite four wins from their opening five matches, something has felt a little off with Arsenal this season. Mikel Arteta has put this down to the margins of their games being too fine and encouraged his side to have more control over matches. Although the scoreline may have read for a third one-goal victory in five matches, the Spaniard felt his calls had been answered after Sunday's 1-0 win over Everton.

«Extremely happy with the performance and the way we played,» he told football.london when asked to assess what he'd seen. «After six years of not doing that that was the challenge for us and the opportunity as well. We looked at everything we needed to do and I saw that on the pitch. We created a lot of chances, I think we dominated the game, we gave nothing away. To do that here big compliment to the players because it’s not easy to do that.»

Arsenal's victory at Goodison Park was probably their most complete display of the season so far. On a ground where they had not won since Arsene Wenger was in charge, they barely offered Everton a sniff, reducing them to one shot on target, 0.28xG and just 26 per cent possession. Clear cut chances were hard to come by but it always felt like a question of when rather than if the Gunners would make the breakthrough. Arteta's side looked as close to their best as they have done all campaign, and one of the Spaniard's major selection decisions was a key cause.

Kai Havertz's Arsenal career has not started as hoped, and he has quickly become a lightning rod for criticism. Your mileage may vary when it comes to how fair that is, but what cannot be denied is how much faith Arteta has in him.

The Spaniard has staunchly defended his £65million signing, insisting that with «persistence and