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Nicolas Pepe opens up on Mikel Arteta meeting before Arsenal's win over Man Utd


Nicolas Pepe was the star man as Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-0 – and he revealed how a morning meeting with Mikel Arteta helped him on his way.

Arteta handed the club-record signing his first start since their defeat to Manchester City on December 15.

He repaid the faith with a well-taken opening goal as well as the corner which led to the second goal as they ran out as convincing winners.

Pepe, inspired to impress by his mother’s birthday, revealed on French TV after the game he was pulled aside for words of encouragement from Arteta on the morning of the game as he informed him he was in the starting line-up.

Nicolas Pepe revealed he held a meeting with Mikel Arteta before the Man Utd game

“Pepe told RMC: “I had a discussion with the coach this morning and he told me I was going to start and asked if I felt ready and stuff like that.

“I told him I felt ready. I showed tonight that I was ready.

“As well, today it is my mother’s birthday, I score today, so it is only positive for me and the team.”

Pepe scored the opener in Arsenal’s win over Manchester United

Pepe also revealed that Arteta’s use of video analysis has helped them grasp his new system as they aim to push on for the Premier League top four.

He added: “This one feels a lot better. We scored twice, we conceded zero goals. This will really do a lot for everyone’s confidence levels.

“We are doing a lot, a lot of video during training in order to perform well during the match. Today we performed well, we were solid defensively, we were good going forward.

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“It is all new for us. A new system, new instructions. We are adapting quickly.

“That has been seen in the last three matches, even though we did not win, we were very good, we were just missing the victory, which we were able to do tonight. We need to continue like this.

“Now we have to go on a run to get to this top 4 that we need to do.”





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