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Mikel Arteta launched a dig at the Premier League and criticised Arsenal's 'terrible' schedule following their convincing 2-0 win over Everton. The Gunners boss expressed his frustration at being required to play at 3pm on Saturday after a Champions League away fixture against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, having also travelled to Nottingham Forest the previous Sunday. Arsenal returned to home ground as they hosted Everton, with goals from Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes securing all three points.
Arteta rang the changes with five alterations from their 2-2 draw with Bayern, one of which was forced upon him, citing the squad's insufficient recovery time as his motivation.
"We are very happy with the victory, the performance and the week," the Arsenal manager declared at his post-match press conference. "We were given a terrible schedule. We have overcome every hurdle and I love the mentality of the team."
Arteta further told Sky Sports: "In Munich, it was one of the most physical games we've played in four years, the shift that we put in was incredible and then we have to play on Saturday at 3pm so we needed those legs, that freshness as well. Players are in good moments and they need minutes. They all did really well."
The other Premier League side to feature in a European away fixture on Wednesday were Manchester United.
Their weekend encounter has been arranged for 2pm on Sunday, a considerably more generous timeframe.
In contrast to Arsenal, United face no Carabao Cup commitment during the week. The Gunners head to Fleetwood in the fourth round and may be without Riccardo Calafiori owing to injury.
"He had a slight issue," Arteta confirmed. "We don't know what it is. It seems very small."
Beyond fitness concerns, Arteta had little cause for grievance. Following their climb to level terms with Manchester City at the top of the table, he added: "Really happy. We made five changes. We've had three games in less than six days so we knew how tough it was going to be.
"But I thought the team performed really well. I thought it was really active from the beginning, put a lot of pressure on the opposition.
"We had some problems to finish the actions but we scored from a set piece - the first one this season - and that gave us the confidence and composure to go and dominate the game. But until we scored the second goal, we knew it was game on."
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