David Luiz said his maturity helped him survive the recent criticism after he put in an outstanding display as Arsenal beat Manchester City 2-0 to reach the FA Cup final for the 21st time.
The Brazilian’s one-year extension recently – was met with some dismay after a poor performance in a 3-0 defeat against Man City in the Premier League, in which his mistake and a red card really cost Arsenal.
But the defender justified his extension with a brilliant display in a possibly season-defining win to give City their first domestic Cup loss in two-and-a-half years.
Arsenal are now closer to a 14th FA Cup title. But they also moved closer to a place in the Europa League – which they will claim if they win the final against either Chelsea or Manchester United.
Asked about the criticism the club faced the last time they faced City, David Luiz told BT Sport: “A lot of criticism of me, no? I think it’s part of football.
“I understood during my career that football is about surviving. Every day you’re going to support your team and other people will support different teams. It’s about surviving. It’s what I did.
“I worked hard every day after my mistakes. I took the blame – I was mature enough to understand that. I was also humble [enough] to work more for the team.
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“We have a final to play this season and we’re going to try win a title for this club because I always say this club deserves to shine again.”
“It was a great result against one of the best teams in the world,” he said. “We did that because we were humble. We understood the way we needed to play and took our chances to score.
“We have to be mature to understand which level we are in the process. We are in a good process; we have an amazing coach who wants to bring us the best football for this club.
“But its not zero to 100. We have to understand that day-by-day we are improving. I’m happy for the team because it deserves it.”
