Goals from Nicholas Pepe and Sokratis Papastathopoulos handed Arteta his first win since taking over as Arsenal manager.
Coming into this game, the Gunners had not won any of their last four league games at the Emirates Stadium.
The Spanish coach claimed he is ‘happy and proud’ of his players’ display and insists their plans before the game was perfectly executed.
“It feels great, incredible, I’m so happy and proud of the players and the performance they put in,” the 37-year-old said.
“It was much better in the first half than the second. Everything we planned to do worked really well.”
“We had enough chances to put the game to bed much earlier, physically the level dropped in the second half but the commitment and desire was terrific.”
The former Everton midfielder recently said he is desperate to repair the relationship between the fans and the players.
Arteta was thankful to the fans for showing up and pushing the team to a big win against their old rivals.
“Right from the start I could feel a different atmosphere. Thank you so much to the fans because we really need them.”
“The players play so much better when they are behind us. Hopefully we gave them something to be proud.”
"I try to help the players as much as possible and give them the right structure to feel comfortable.”
“But they have to deliver and I’m so happy they are doing that at the moment. The performances are getting better so I was desperate for the win and we got it.”
