Mikel Arteta praised Arsenal’s growing maturity after their emphatic victory over Paris Saint-Germain boosted their Champions League campaign.

A header from Kai Havertz and a free-kick from stand-in captain Bukayo Saka in the first half set Arsenal on their way to a win against the French champions as summer signing Mikel Merino made his debut after recovering from a shoulder injury.

The only downer for Arteta was an injury to Jurriën Timber, which forced the Dutch defender to be substituted at half-time, with the Arsenal manager confirming he had “felt something muscular”.

But another superb defensive display against a PSG side that had scored in their last 51 Champions League group stage games ensured Arsenal maintained their record of not conceding a goal in the competition after a 0-0 draw at Atalanta in their opening game. There was a 0 draw.

“We are really happy because we played against one of the best teams in the world for sure,” Arteta said. “These games in European competitions are very different to the Premier League and we showed a lot of maturity. We are shaping the way we want to behave towards top teams in Europe and I really like that.”

The win lifted Arsenal into the top eight of the emerging Champions League table after they reached the quarter-finals last season for the first time since 2010, where they were eliminated by Bayern Munich. Saka’s goal was the fourth in Arsenal’s last six games, coming from a set-piece after crucial goals against Tottenham, Manchester City and Leicester.

While there was a moment of happiness recently after a mistake by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Arteta paid tribute to the resilience of his players in the second half. “We suffered much more than we should have,” he said. “The Champions League brings with it different demands, but I think we handled them really well.”

Havertz expressed his joy after becoming the first Arsenal player since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2019 to score in six consecutive home games. “I love the stadium – I’m so grateful to play here and be part of the team,” he said. “Before, I wasn’t a player who loved the (aerial) duels, but now I just love it. When we win against teams like this it gives us a big boost – last year it was difficult to play against Bayern but we have grown as a team.”

Luis Enrique, the PSG coach, described Arsenal as “one of the best teams in the world” and added: “We knew from the first minute that they would put us under pressure and we couldn’t overcome that.” But if If you lose every single duel, you are far from winning.”