Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta marked his 250th game in charge of a single Premier League club in Monday’s 1-0 away win against Aston Villa.
A 59th-minute strike from Bukayo Saka sealed the victory for the Gunners as they maintained a perfect two wins in their first two games of the new campaign.
According to BBC Sport on Tuesday, Arteta now ranks among the top 10 managers who have managed at least 250 games at a single EPL club.
The Spaniard, also a former Arsenal player, has recorded 151 wins, 48 draws and 51 losses, thereby amassing a 60.4 per cent win rate.
He only comes behind former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (70.8%), Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson (65.2%) and ex-Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp (62.6%).
At the full-time whistle at Villa Park on Monday night, the North London supporters chanted Arteta’s name.
On reaching the milestone with the win, Arteta said, “I’m extremely grateful. It starts to be a big number!
“So I’m really grateful for all the support, the love that I feel from all of them, and yeah, really great to celebrate with a win.”
He reflected on the team’s game against Aston Villa, where they lost last season as the Gunners were crowned EPL champions after 22 years.
Labelling the win as a collective effort, Arteta said he felt “extremely happy,” adding, “It’s a really tough place to come and win; when we came here last year, we lost with the last kick of the game. I think we still had that in our tummies.
“I would define it as a squad victory – I think everybody contributed in a really great way. We’ve been wanting that need in the final third to find the openings and to be more clinical and finish more actions. I’m really pleased because that’s exactly what we need.
“I’m very proud, because these guys won the Europa League again. They have a really good stadium where they can create momentum and shift and change the feelings immediately, and we did it, and I think it’s a big win.”
The result also extended Arsenal’s impressive away record, with the Gunners winning their opening away league match in each of the last five seasons.
For Villa, the defeat extended their difficult start to the campaign, with Unai Emery’s side still yet to register a shot on target in the EPL this season.
