Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta and skipper, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have reacted to the disappointing 1-1 draw against Burnley at the Turf Moore.
The Gunners suffered a setback in their quest for a Europa League spot after Granit Xhaka’s blunder helped Sean Dyche’s men to secure a point, their fifth in five straight Premier League matches.
Reacting to Xhaka’s error during the post-match interview, Arteta said, “It can happen in football. We did it using Bernd and trying to use the holding midfielder in that situation. We scored a goal from Auba all the way from Bernd Leno. We conceded one chance and that comes from Bernd Leno deciding to kick the ball long and we could not control the second ball with an open structure.”
The Spaniard was, however, “disappointed with the result, but the reality is when you come here, which is a tough place to play, and you generate the chances that we created, don’t score enough, give a goal to the opponent and then don’t get the decisions that you should get it becomes difficult to win a game in the league.”
Arsenal had two penalty calls denied by the VAR, involving Nicolas Pépé and Erik Pieters. Arteta was critical of the decision to deny his side a penalty.
“I think it’s obvious and clear I think there is no debate about that. If that’s not a penalty I think somebody has to explain what is a penalty in this league,” he said.
The Gunners would have gone three goals up in the game but failed to convert their chance with Dani Ceballos’ late strike hitting the woodwork.
Reacting to the missed chances, Arteta said, “You still have to come here and win the game with what you produce. If you don’t you have to look at ourselves and don’t find any other excuses. We should have been two or three nil up in the first half.”
In the same win, Aubameyang who recorded his 14th goal of the season six minutes into the game against Burnley was also critical of his side’s missed chances.
Reacting on his verified Twitter handle moments after the match, the Arsenal captain said, “Let’s be honest VAR on the side. In this Game When you produce chances as we did Today we should won this Game but it is what it is!! Let’s move forward big week coming.”
As it stands, Arsenal remain 10th on the log with 38 points after 27 Premier League with about 11 games left before the 2020/20 season ends.
The Gunners head back to Gree on Thursday for the first leg of their Round of 16 clash with Greek champions, Olympiacos, before returning home for a London derby against Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham at the Emirates on Sunday.
