AFC Wimbledon earn praise off Arsenal boss Arteta despite 3-0 defeat in north London
Mikel Arteta admitted that AFC Wimbledon gave his Arsenal side a “tough game” despite the north Londoners progressing to the fourth round of the EFL Cup with a 3-0 win tonight.
Goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah ensured there was no upset. The Dons, who had knocked out Charlton and Northampton on their current run, failed to muster a shot on target.
Gunners boss Arteta said: “As long as we were 1-0 up, they were obviously still in the game and any situation like a set-piece, you can concede a goal, so we knew that we had to close the game down.
“We did that at the end and it looked comfortable, but it was always a tough game.”
Lacazette scored the first goal from the penalty spot and assisted South London born Smith Rowe.
The French striker said: “We want to go as far as we can in this competition, we want to win, in this kind of game we have to make it easy.
“We should do it earlier but at the end we have to say they [AFC Wimbledon] played well but we are happy with our performance.”
PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD
