Mikel Arteta says his team failed to take big chances against an obdurate Nottingham Forest side this evening, taking just a point back to North London after a 0-0 draw at the City Ground.
There were first half moments for Gabriel Martinelli, who should have scored, as well as Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi who chose to cross rather than shoot, among others, and that was a cause of frustration for the Arsenal boss.
Speaking afterwards, he bemoaned those missed opportunities, saying, “Obviously we came here to win the game. And we haven’t managed to do that for different reasons.
“First of all, credit to them because they are really well organised and they are really good at breaking momentum when you have certain dominance in the game.
“But the reality is we created four massive chances as well, with Martinelli an open goal, Declan Rice tap-in, Mikel Merino [header] and the header of Bukayo.
“And on top of that, obviously, a very clear penalty in the box that is not being given. So, without conceding a single shot on target, again, the fact that we haven’t won the game with that is disappointing.”
Of course it is disappointing not to win, but bar the Martinelli chance, we didn’t create enough clear-cut opportunities to score, and too many players were below par on the night.
As for the penalty, it’s perhaps a bit desperate, because if that was given against Arsenal, we’d all be up in arms.
Asked if, at the end of the day, he has to look at this as a point gained after Man City’s defeat earlier in the day, he said, “We have to do that, try to learn and improve. This league shows how difficult it is, nobody is winning, winning, winning because it’s so tough.
“Especially when we have the situation that we have today, we have to put them away and there are other areas as well that you have to give credit to the opponents.”
Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal – player ratings