‘My eyes were in pain’: Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta praises his side for restoring their identity after responding to hurt of Brighton humbling with comeback win against Leeds

DAILYMAIL.COM • 1h ago

By ISAAN KHAN, REPORTER 17:11 10 Oct 2026, updated 17:18 10 Oct 2026

Mikel Arteta said Arsenal rediscovered their identity in fighting back to beat Leeds – after enduring ‘pain in his eyes’ for a week because of their humiliation at Brighton three weeks ago.

The Gunners, who were beaten 3-0 by the Seagulls before the international break in their worst performance for some time, started sluggishly against Leeds, who went ahead through James Justin.

But a triple substitution in the second-half sparked a remarkable turnaround with strikes from Riccardo Calafiori and Bruno Guimaraes steering Arsenal to three points.

Arteta said: ‘Before the game we talked about two things: the challenge ahead because Leeds had not lost in the Premier League and it was going to be really tough.

‘And second one, to restore our identity and be ourselves again. We weren’t pleased against Brighton and today was an opportunity to put that right. We certainly reacted in the manner we expected.

‘With 12:30pm at home after a defeat, it is a bad mixture and we got out of that through pinching our desire to win, to have a reaction, to show the personality and courage that we have in this team.

‘The finishers came in to make a huge difference again to help us win the game and that’s what we are made of.’

On the pain he felt in the days following the Brighton loss, he said: ‘(It was) not great, especially because you question yourself, what you haven’t done in that game to be able to witness that again, my eyes were in pain.’

The Spaniard reserved praise for Guimaraes for his inspired cameo off the bench.

‘The timing, the connection and the execution of it (goal), it was a beauty,’ added Arteta.

‘He’s done it twice already, against Sunderland and against Leeds as well and that’s the quality that is needed at this level to continue to win.

‘He wasn’t at that level against Brighton and this is the level for Arsenal. Every week, every game, every minute, every action you have to be at that level.

‘Today he was much better and can still be much better in the game that he’s done.

‘I’m going to demand the same with the (other) players because if we do that we will raise the standards and we’ll be a better team.’

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