The Gunners won 2-0 thanks to a first goal for the club from Ebere Eze and also Leandro Trossard.
Arteta said afterwards: "Something that was discussed before the game, I think what was at stake in this game is your reputation as a club, as a team, as an individual. And we play these types of games, I've been here long enough to understand it's going to be very tricky.
"I think we started the game really well, very dominant, scored a goal, and had another three or four chances that we didn't manage to score.
"In the second half we lost a little bit of grip on the game, especially with the direct play, with all the throw-ins to the sidelines and winning territory, and then again, we lacked a bit of dominance and control. With a few adjustments, we got back to that, and we scored a beautiful goal, the second goal, the ball from Willy (Saliba) and the quality of Leo on the finish is top drawer.
"In general, happy with the win, the clean sheet and the debut of Kepa for us today, Ebz’s goal, his first for the club and then the fact that even making nine changes, the team can still perform really well."
Arteta gave Bukayo Saka an hour on the night.
He explained, "It was planned - 60 minutes was the maximum. We had four, almost five players already in the line-up that we had to get him out for different reasons, especially for load and coming from long periods out, so, we planned for that. The good thing is that nobody got injured, so he has no muscular issues. So that's a very positive thing again."