Arteta likens Havertz's Arsenal struggles to him trying to win over his wife
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has urged Kai Havertz to be persistent, as he likened the midfielder's struggles to the early stages of his relationship with his wife.
Havertz has failed to impress since joining the Gunners from Chelsea in the summer transfer window. He was taken off after 77 minutes of Arsenal's dramatic win over Manchester United, with the scores level at 1-1, after Havertz spurned a glorious first-half chance.
He fluffed his shot though, taking his goalless drought to four games since arriving at the Emirates Stadium. But Arteta believes the German needs to be given time, likening Havertz to himself back when he was trying to win his wife's heart.
"I said to him yesterday, things are hard in the beginning. When I met my wife, in the beginning it was hard to conquer her and I had to try and keep messaging. In the end, she said yes, she wanted to be together and it was beautiful. If it is a yes on the first day, it is not that great. I think the crowd was really good with him today," he told Sky Sports.
Asked how he won over his wife, Arteta replied: "Being persistent and determined!" The Spaniard had seen his Gunners side score two stoppage time goals to claim a dramatic win over United at the Emirates Stadium.
Marcus Rashford had hammered the visitors in front in the first-half, before an unmarked Martin Odegaard swept in an equaliser almost immediately. Arsenal then thought they had won a penalty when Havertz was brought down, but referee Anthony Taylor overruled himself after reviewing the incident on the pitchside VAR monitor.
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Kai Havertz struggled to make an impact against Manchester United (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)Alejandro Garnacho then struck with two minutes to go to appear to win the game, but it was ruled out for offside. As the game appeared to be petering out for a draw, Declan Rice popped up to smash in a winner deep into injury time.
Gabriel Jesus added gloss to the scoreline with a composed finish as he fired past Andre Onana. It was a result that left Arteta delighted, with the gap on early leaders Manchester City now down to just two points.
"We work and do everything we do every day for moments like this. This is sport at the top level, it is about the small margins. It could have gone either way. I am really happy obviously," he added.
"They are a great team, really well coached and they make life difficult for you. When we gave the goal away that we did you are always up against it and in the Premier League that is dangerous.
"He was outstanding, but the whole team was as well. Rice gave us the momentum in the moments the team needed it. It is a beautiful thing how these turn around and we won the game.
"We have been so dominant. Against Fulham it was a similar story. The team deserves more. When I see a team with that will to win, the eagerness to go and go, it is beautiful."
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