Mikel Arteta has said Arsenal's refusal to accept a draw at Bayern Munich shows how far his team have come.
Arsenal earned a point after an entertainingChampions League draw with the German champions on Wednesday night, in a league phase fixture between two of the tournament favourites.
Declan Rice's late equaliser earned Arsenal a point at the Allianz Arena, in a game that saw both teams lead. Eberechi Eze had fired the Premier League champions ahead, only for Bayern to turn the game around through Alphonso Davies and Harry Kane.
Rice's 82nd-minute leveller saw the points shared, after a well-worked Arsenal goal. Arteta said his team will 'take the draw' but was impressed by the attitude from Arsenal, who pushed on again after Rice's goal in search of a winner.
Away from home against a freescoring Bayern team, Arteta said it's a sign of how far Arsenal have evolved as a European outfit.
"We’ll take the draw, but it doesn’t mean we’re really happy about it because we prepared a team to win the game - you could see that from right at the beginning, with the mindset, the purpose the adventure team had to be very dominant and cause Bayern problems," he said at hispost-match press conference.
"We pressed them, attacked them, and we were the better team for 20, 25 minutes and scored the goal. Unfortunately we had the injury to Bukayo which was a big setback, but Ebs jumps in and the team remains in the same way. But the margins are so small - we get something wrong after the corner, and in two passes, they’re in front of goal. In another one, it was the shape, and Harry Kane can put the ball 30 metres along the floor between us for Alphonso Davies, and that’s the level.
"After that, it was two teams that wanted to press each other and attack, constantly very alive to hurt the opponent. When we went down, we showed an incredible composure and spirit to keep going and attack them, the finishers came in and made an impact as well.
"After we scored, you saw the reaction of the team to take the ball, wanting to attack them and go again to win the game. I think that tells you a lot about the team, especially looking at Bayern over the last two or three years with the teams that have come here, and the manner they have been battered. When you look at their team and their coach, that’s when I have to give credit to our team and our players."