Mikel Arteta expressed his belief that Arsenal were the “better” side in their Premier League draw against Liverpool on Sunday.
However, he couldn’t hide his frustration with several decisions he felt went against his team.
The match ended 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium, with Mohamed Salah equalising for the Reds in the dying moments, just nine minutes from time.
Despite dealing with injuries to key players – finishing the match without three of their first-choice defenders – Arsenal showed promising form in the first half.
However, they were unable to maintain their lead after the break as Liverpool significantly improved their performance.
With Arsenal now sitting four points behind the second-placed Reds, Mikel Arteta said: “I’m very disappointed we haven’t won the game today.
“We were better, but (we didn’t win) because the two things we had to be better at we didn’t.
“I’m very proud of the team especially this situation we are going through (with injuries) at the moment like you couldn’t imagine.
“In the first half it was a total domination, we were really, really good, really sharp, really efficient, really determined.
“The lead should have been bigger.
“Without conceding anything we gave two goals away. It’s disappointing we couldn’t see the game out.
“We had five injuries in the back line and we had to adapt to it.
“The courage the players played with was unbelievable. We need to keep going.
“We had some big individual performances today.
“Well you don’t want to be in that position, you want to be five points ahead but this is where we are, and again the team it’s alive, the team wants it.
“I feel it every single day, the players that cannot play they are upset that they are not playing, the ones that get injured, the ones that are there in a good moment, things will turn up and we’ll be in a better place but we are certainly there.”
On Saka’s consistency, Arteta added: “It’s his consistency and the fact that he’s very young as well and he’s been very lucky with injuries so hopefully he continues to be there, but after a few weeks off, the way he played and competed was exceptional.
“I think we had some big, big individual performances in the team.”
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