Vedat Muriqi struck in the second-half for the 1-0 win, with Arraste delighted afterwards.
Deserved victory:
“We played a great game, we just needed to score, which is the most difficult and important thing. We had done well before, but it wasn’t to be. When you’re not having a good day, that’s what set pieces are for. It was a good cross and a great shot from Muriqi that gave us three points, which are fair.”
The key to the match:
"I liked the team, it was the first time we had three forwards who are specific. I think the opponent, at times, suffered and that was the idea. We wanted to push them back with two attacking full-backs and that was a bit of the key. We also didn't want to let them run because they are good in transitions. We did both things well, generating enough to score and defensively conceding little."
Muriqi's return accompanied by Larin:
“I've seen him in good form all week, and he always scores against Rayo. He was more free because Larin freed him up by dropping to the wing. I knew he wasn't fit for the whole game, but thank goodness I didn't take him off earlier. I saw him comfortable, perfect, because he had a very clear chance in the first half. We have to work so that Muriqi and Larin are more complementary and we benefit from that.”
Fifth in La Liga:
“It's anecdotal that we're fifth, but it's not surprising that we have 17 points. It's something we already have and it helps us continue to grow. Now we have another game at home that will be nice and we have to prepare for it during the week.”
The Arrasate era is working:
“When you arrive you don’t make predictions, you look at the schedule and you see that the first one is against Real Madrid, and you want to try to score points and from there you can continue to grow. The team’s improvement is consistent with the points we have. I think the team is increasingly comfortable with the way we play and I think we still have room for improvement. We have to keep working with the same humility, but knowing that at this level it will be difficult for our rivals.”
Dani Rodríguez's 250th game:
“A player always wants to play. He had played until now, but today we opted for two forwards. He has helped us not only with the assist for the goal, but also with the back-to-back work, he is very intelligent. He is in his maturity, at a very high level. It seems that with age he improves. I don't know what his ceiling is, but I see him getting better every day. The fruit of all this are his games and hopefully there will be many more.”