Mikel Arteta has given an honest reflection on his side’s 1-1 draw to Southampton at Saint Mary’s Stadium on Sunday, October 24.
The Gunners went into the game with a near-perfect record; nine wins and one loss in 10 matches played. Taking something from the game was crucial for Arsenal as Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion moved them to within one point of the league leaders.
They got off to the perfect start when Granit Xhaka opened the scoring in the 11th minute. Arsenal failed to extend their lead despite a chance from Gabriel Jesus towards the end of the first half when he was denied by Gavin Bazunu with a superb save.
The next 45 minutes became tightly contested between the sides as the Saints looked to secure the equaliser. Stuart Armstrong’s second-half strike levelled the scoring before the points were shared at the full-time whistle.
Arteta’s verdict:
Post-match, the Arsenal manager said: “No complaints, this is football. We were really good in the first half and controlled totally the game, we created loads of big chances that we didn’t put away. In the Premier League unfortunately, if you don’t do that when you are top of the game you can have some difficulties.
“In the second half we put ourselves in problems with the amount of giveaways that we had, especially with ball possession, and that didn’t allow us to control the game the way we wanted. Their direct play and long throws and set pieces disrupted the game a lot. We tried to react and I still think in the second half the two biggest chances were ours but we didn’t put them away.”