Mikel Arteta admits he lost his bearings during Arsenal’s ‘crazy’ celebrations after dramatic winner

Mikel Arteta admitted he didn’t know where he was in the ‘madness’ of Arsenal’s celebrations when Reiss Nelson’s 97th-minute goal sealed a dramatic 2-0 comeback against Bournemouth to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the Premier. League.

Arsenal trailed after just 9.11 seconds thanks to Philip Billing, who scored the second-quickest goal in Premier League history to put the relegation-threatened visitors ahead.

Arteta’s side fell behind in the second half as Marco Senesi finished to make it 2-0, but goals from Thomas Partey, Ben White and Nelson turned the game around and sparked wild celebrations.

“It’s crazy, you lose sight of where you are,” said Arteta. “I started running and I didn’t really know where I was running. I saw a boy here next to me, then I ran for safety. But just looking at everyone’s faces, the players and our fans with those smiles, the joy in his eyes, it’s great.

‘It was an extraordinary day, a beautiful experience at the end. Very dramatic, but worth experiencing, because it was a great ending.’

Reiss Nelson’s stoppage-time goal was his team’s third goal after 90 minutes.

Everyone was overwhelmed. It was crazy from the first 10 seconds of the game, and we had to climb a mountain against 10 players behind the ball. Suddenly we were 2-0 down, and after that it’s not losing form, not losing discipline, doing simple things well, scoring the first goal and we did it.

“We showed a lot of maturity and resilience to do that, and when we did that, the atmosphere of the place changed the energy.”

Coming on as a substitute with 20 minutes remaining, Nelson set up White’s equalizer before his left-footed half-volley from the edge of the box completed Arsenal’s first comeback to win from two goals down in 11 years.

It was the end of four months of injury hell for the 23-year-old academy graduate, and Arteta praised his hero afterward.

“When we scored the second goal I thought, ‘OK, let’s go for it,'” Arteta said. “The substitutes had a big impact today and I am very happy for Reiss after the difficult months he has had.

I always saw the potential, the talent and the desire for him to do it. He’s on a different level right now, emotionally his experiences helped him and he’s knocking on the door. It’s a good lesson for me and for the coaches who need it.

It is the third time this season that Arsenal have scored a winner after the 90th minute, and the fourth time since the World Cup break that they have come back to win a game they were trailing.

Defender Ben White also came off the bench to score with Nelson setting up his teammate in the 70th minute.

Arteta revealed that the entire team was “overwhelmed” with the fashion of his team’s victory

Arteta admitted that the moment was the best he has experienced at the Emirates Stadium in his five years as a player and three as a manager here.

“Probably yes, the loudest and most emotional moment we have ever had together. The journey we’ve been on and how fans and players are together.

‘First we enjoyed tonight. Let’s have some fun and then tomorrow we go back to work.

“Winning four games in a row in the Premier League is very hard. We’ve done three of those in a week and in various ways. Today many things went against us, but the team still finds a way to win the game. That’s really positive.