Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was delighted with their FA Cup triumph over Portsmouth on Monday night.

Pompey played well in the first half but trailed to Sokratis Papastathopoulos' volley from Reiss Nelson's cross just before the break.

Eddie Nketiah bundled home from close range from another Nelson cross to wrap up the victory six minutes after the restart.

Pompey's only shot on target came in the second half, with substitute Ronan Curtis' effort saved.

Arteta said: "It's a difficult place to come but I have faith in these kids. They always respond and I always knew they would do that. They have to learn from the difficult moments and manage them but they have the talent and desire and look how hard they work.

"The clean sheet is really important and we defended set-pieces much better.

"We have pace in a few players up front. Reiss [Nelson] is a special player and can eliminate players one on one. He's been out for a while but he's back now and he showed what he's capable of doing.

"I'm really enjoying working with this group of players,. It's a process. I know everything has to be today or yesterday but in football it doesn't happen like this. I'm seeing a lot of things I'm happy with but there is a lot of room to improve."

He also said: "I'm really pleased with them [the youngsters]. I'm enjoying working with the players. They deserve a chance. It's always a risk but they're worth the risk.

"It was a great atmosphere and Portsmouth made it difficult. We knew we'd have moments we could suffer but we reacted and got control of the game. We got two goals and could have had a few more.

"Pablo Mari has looked good in training. He's lacking rhythm but very good."