Mikel Arteta paid a gracious tribute to West Ham United after David Moyes’ side fought back from 2-0 down while delivering a hammer blow to Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes.
In any normal season, away draws at the London Stadium and at Anfield are hardly dreadful results. Or, at least, they wouldn’t be if Arsenal were not being hunted by the Premier League’s apex predator; Manchester City smelling blood and baring their teeth.
This is no ‘normal season’. And Man City are no ‘normal’ opposition.
In the blink of an eye, Arsenal’s advantage at the top has dwindled to just four measly points. And with that trip to the Etihad looming on the horizon, throwing away 2-0 leads in successive weekends may be – if not necessarily fatal – then certainly extremely unhelpful.
Wonderfully-worked goals from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard had Arsenal cruising inside ten minutes away at relegation threatened West Ham. But a disastrous penalty concession – Thomas Partey’s blunder followed by Gabriel Magalhaes’ lunge – turned what looked like a relatively straightforward game on it’s head.
By full-time, Jarrod Bowen slamming home an equaliser, it was the hosts who may have felt they deserved all three points rather than Arteta’s visitors.
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West Ham fight back to draw with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal
“We started extremely well again. (We) dominated the game, dominated the pitch. Scored two beautiful goals,” the former Man City assistant tells the Arsenal website. “After that, we made a huge mistake to stop playing with the same purpose to score the third. (We thought) we could play around them and maintain that result.”
Arsenal struggled to cope with West Ham’s intensity and directness from then on; Declan Rice, Kurt Zouma and the effervescent Bowen rediscovering their form from last season.
“We gave them hope and they took it,” Arteta adds. “They did what they did really well. They started to play extremely direct, with long throws and winning corners. We really struggled to get out of that game.
“If you don’t defend your box the way you should, with the two goals we conceded, you have to do many things much better for longer periods in the match.
“Credit to West Ham. If they are efficient in those first two goals, it is difficult. You have to fight and earn the right to play.”
In other news, Liverpool transfer news: German report shares Ryan Gravenberch update
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