Mikel Arteta admitted his Arsenal squad "won his heart" by giving Kai Havertz the chance to score his first goal for the club in the 4-0 thrashing of Bournemouth on Saturday.
The Gunners were cruising at half-time thanks to Bukayo Saka's opener and Martin Odegaard's 44th-minute penalty.
Odegaard himself was felled by Ryan Christie to gift the visitors a second spot-kick. Instead of the Norwegian or Saka, Havertz took the penalty and sent Cherries goalie Neto the wrong way to put Arsenal 3-0 up.
Ben White later rounded off the scoring in second-half injury time, though it was the spirit of his squad that drew Arteta's praise rather than the quality of performance.
Speaking about Havertz after the game, the Spaniard said: "[He's] someone that is going through a period externally - not internally but externally - that he's getting questioned in certain areas. For the team to step up and show that empathy and that trust towards him, they won my heart today, that group of players.
"As a manager I'm more proud of this than the victory because this is what you try to build - the culture and environment that they support each other, have their backs and enjoy what we are doing."
Havertz was a £65m arrival from Chelsea during the summer transfer window but has struggled to perform during the early weeks of the season, going nine games with a goal for his new side before striking at the Vitality Stadium.
Arteta added: "It's worth it, it's real and it's not forced. They made the decision and showed the leadership without me even telling them so that's much more powerful.
"And thank you to our supporters, because the way they have supported our team and Kai - it is going to mean the world to him. Thank you so much."
Arsenal's title hopes were boosted by Manchester City's surprise 2-1 loss at Wolves and they now sit just a point behind the reigning champions, level with Tottenham after Spurs controversially beat Liverpool.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal squad 'won his heart' with Kai Havertz decision.
