Arsenal were undone by Manchester United on Sunday with Mikel Arteta called out for making four substitutions just before the hour mark - which included hooking Martin Odegaard
Mikel Arteta saw his Arsenal side beaten which has blown up the title race
Mikel Arteta saw his Arsenal side beaten which has blown up the title race(Image: )
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Mikel Arteta made a "knee-jerk reaction" by making a quadruple substitution in Arsenal's loss to Manchester United as David Seaman was left stunned that Martin Odegaard was hauled off.
The Gunners were beaten on Sunday by the Red Devils as they saw their gap at the top cut to just four points with pressure ramping up on the north Londoners. Arsenal were favourites to see off United, but let their lead slip at the Emirates.
After the visitors had gone 2-1 ahead courtesy of Patrick Dorgu's stunning strike the Arsenal boss chose to make a staggering four changes with Odegaard, Martin Zubimendi and Gabriel Jesus among those to be taken off before the hour mark.
Seaman was particularly stunned that Odegaard, the team's captain and arguably their most creative player, was taken out of the game before the hour mark as he commented on the Norwegian looking less than impressed.
The club's former goalkeeper told Premier League Productions: "I was shocked if I’m honest. It was 2-1 at the time, it was almost a knee-jerk reaction to the second United goal, I don’t know why but it brought a bit of tension into the crowd.
"You’re taking off your captain and he didn’t look very happy about it. It was a real surprise for me because he’s our playmaker, to bring him off then changed everything because Declan [Rice] had to drop back and then Eze is coming on who hasn’t done a lot for Arsenal yet. It was a strange substitution and bringing four on as well really disrupts the moment of the team."
Among the players to come on was Mikel Merino, who did come up with the equaliser as he touched home from close range after a corner caused havoc in the United box. That was with five minutes remaining, but rather than land a winner, Arsenal conceded within two minutes.
Martin Odegaard didn't even play an hour on Sunday
Martin Odegaard didn't even play an hour on Sunday(Image: )
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Matheus Cunha went up the other end and powered home a long range effort to stun the Emirates. Arteta admitted: "Cunha puts it in the perfect angle to lose all the momentum, all the good energy that we were building up and to go and win the game for them so very, very disappointed obviously".
The loss means the north Londoners have only picked up two points out of a possible nine from their last three outings which has seen the likes of Patrick Vieira question the team's mental strength.
"At the end we have to show the mental strength that we have on the pitch when it comes to matchday and we were absolutely brilliant in Milan and today we weren't that good," said the Arsenal boss.
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