Arteta adamant on Arsenal title dream despite 15-point gap behind Liverpool following draw against Man United.
Arteta adamant as he refuses to give up on title despite United draw.
Even though Arsenal is now 15 points behind Liverpool following a 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Sunday, Mikel Arteta has refused to accept that the title fight is finished.
Arne Slot’s squad needs a maximum of just 16 points from their next nine games to win the championship, but Arteta’s club has played 28 games, one fewer than Liverpool. Arteta was questioned if he secretly thinks Arsenal won’t win the Premier League again.
The Spaniard said: “I don’t want to say that, but today the frustration is that we haven’t won our game, we know the urgency and you’re obligated to win every single match. You won’t have any chance without doing that. I don’t think it’s the right moment to talk about that.”
Arsenal have now dropped seven points in their past three games. Arteta was asked why. “Today the efficiency we had in the last 20 metres wasn’t good enough. We know that. To come to Old Trafford and do what we did was superb but you have to capitalise and today we didn’t and then we have to overturn a result and you know how difficult that is here.”
Declan Rice equalised in the 74th minute to cancel off Bruno Fernandes’s free-kick goal shortly before halftime. In order to allow Fernandes to score, referee Anthony Taylor ordered Arsenal’s wall back 11.2 yards, which was more than the usual 10 and made it easier for United’s captain to fly his kick past it.
Arteta said: “They [his staff] just mentioned that. If Bruno is on that, football is for smart street players and if he’s done that and capitalised on that, he was more clever than us and the referee.”
Ruben Amorim praised Fernandes’s contribution. “What I can say is we need more Brunos, that is clear,” the head coach said. “Not just the quality and the character, he makes some mistakes but in this league the availability is so important and he is so decisive with and without the ball.”