Lucas Torreira has revealed Arsenal manager Unai Emery’s half time message after the Gunners came from behind to beat Tottenham in the Spaniard’s first north London derby.
The hosts were trailing by a goal at the break after Eric Dier’s header and Harry Kane’s penalty had overturned Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s early spot-kick. Following two half time changes from Emery, however, a second strike from Aubameyang, a deflected Alexandre Lacazette goal and a first Arsenal goal for Torreira ensured a seismic win over their north London rivals.
The Gunners started ferociously and could have had more than one early on after their pressing left Tottenham stunned and disorganised, but after the visitors rallied and ended the first 45 minutes on a high, Arsenal did well to regain control and then kill off Spurs.
And Torreira has revealed that Emery instructed his side to remain calm and continue to execute their plan in the second half.
"[Emery told us] to be calm, to continue playing because there were 45 more minutes left, that we keep attacking because obviously in the second half we were going to find more spaces. In fact, it happened and we scored the goals at key moments," he told ESPN FC.
"In the first half we started very strong, pressing very high, sometimes we managed to steal the ball very high we had many chances after scoring the first goal.
"Then, for different reasons, because of football too, they scored two goals and went ahead.
"In the second half, we made some changes. The players who came on from the bench did very well. We listened to the manager and we improved many things. That worked for us to get the victory."
