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Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw against Man United and Mikel Arteta left an interview early when asked about Liverpool’s 15-point lead.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta claimed it was not the ‘right moment’ to talk about the Premier League title race - shortly after storming out of a TV interview.
The Gunners lost more ground on leaders Liverpool when held to a 1-1 draw at Manchester United. Arsenal dominated much of the first half yet lacked cutting edge once again in the final third before Bruno Fernandes put United ahead with a free-kick. Declan Rice equalised for the North London outfit after the break but they were unable to go on and win the game.
Scoring goals has largely been Arsenal’s problem this season. And after being held to a stalemate against the Red Devils, they are 15 points behind Liverpool having played one match fewer.
Arteta was asked about the battle for the top-flight crown when speaking to Sky Sports after the game. When asked by reporter Patrick Davidson about the hap between Arsenal and Liverpool, Arteta replied ‘no’ while walking away. Davidson subsequently queried if it was too much and the Arsenal supremo replied: “Thanks.”
What’s been said
Arteta was then quizzed on the same matter during his post-match press conference. Although he was not as curt with reporters, he failed to give an answer on whether Liverpool can be caught. The Emirates Stadium chief said via arsenal.com: I don’t want to say that but today the frustration is that we haven’t won our game – we know the urgency and it’s about winning every single match if you want to have any chance of doing that. I don’t think it’s the right moment to talk about that.”
More points dropped
Arsenal have dropped points in their past three league games - losing to West Ham and drawing against Nottingham Forest and Man United. In that time, Liverpool have delivered wins over Manchester City, Newcastle and Southampton to edge them closer to a 20th league title in the club’s history.
Asked about failing to win their past three top-flight fixtures, Arteta said: “Today the efficiency we had in the last 20 metres, it wasn’t good enough, we know that. Those are big parts of a lot of things that the game demands when you come to Old Trafford and what we did was superb, but at the end, you have to capitalise on that when the team is so dominant and much better than the opposition and today we didn’t.
“Then you have to overturn a result, which we know is very difficult to do here. You have to expose yourself a little bit more because you have to take more risks and then the game could have gone their way in the last few minutes.
“That’s the responsibility of all of us (creating chances) and we don’t want to put that into the minds. I agree with you, that’s fully the initiative that everybody has to take, especially when we defend and attack against so much density. We’ve done it in the past, we’ve done it recently, but we have to do it consistently.”
Related topics:Mikel ArtetaArsenalManchester UnitedPremier LeagueBruno Fernandes
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