Martin proud of Saints' fight

Saints weathered an early storm from the hosts and then began to frustrate them, with Aaron Ramsdale hardly called upon before Cameron Archer fired the underdogs in front 10 minutes into the second half, shortly after goal provider Mateus Fernandes had gone close himself.

But the setback injected fresh life into the title hopefuls, who immediately struck back through Kai Havertz and turned the game on its head through Gabriel Martinelli’s far-post finish on 68 minutes.

Tyler Dibling’s deflected shot struck the post and Taylor Harwood-Bellis’s header ricocheted off Adam Armstrong and on to the crossbar before Bukayo Saka wrapped up the points two minutes from time, leaving Martin with enough to feel encouraged about.

“I’m really proud of so much of the performance. First half the willingness to fight, to run, to defend, to be aggressive, to double up and help your mate, was brilliant,” he said.

“At half time I just asked for a bit more willingness to take the ball, a bit more courage to really play, and we did that in the second half in abundance.

“We had some brilliant moments; we hit the bar, we hit the post, we score a good goal, a couple of balls across the six-yard box; some really great moments, which not many teams have at Arsenal.

“We watched PSG here on Tuesday and I feel like we’ve had as many if not better moments than they did in the game, but when we go 1-0 up we have to be in front for longer.

“It’s so disappointing that it’s a mistake from us that allows them to score, and then at 2-1 I thought we were great. We had a bit of a wobble after conceding [the first] but this team is growing and learning under the biggest scrutiny in the Premier League, but we have to stay on path and help everyone on their journey.

“We have to accept we’re playing against one of the best teams in the country, but we had a lot of good moments today – defensively and with the ball. I feel excited about what’s to come, I feel really excited about the team after today.”