Arsenal news: Mikel Arteta pins blame as title hopes take major blow with Aston Villa draw | Football | Sport

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Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal cannot be Premier League title contenders if they defend like they did against Aston Villa.

The Gunners were 2-0 up and cruising until just before the hour mark, when Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins scored twice in eight minutes to drag Villa level. Mikel Merino was beaten in the box by Tielemans for the first goal and Thomas Partey went to sleep for Watkins’ equaliser.

Arteta was initially vague in his post-match assessment, as he admitted there is ‘something missing’ from his side. But he admitted that on Saturday, that missing thing was competent defending for both of Villa’s goals.

“In attack, in defence, the level we are playing is so, so, so high,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “We have played some big, big teams and we were so good. But there is something missing.

“That line is so thin and we have to find it. Today we conceded goals, that can’t be part of our game if we want to be up there. Today it was clear [what was missing]. We cannot concede those two goals after everything we did.

“We had discipline, commitment, resilience, quality. That line is so thin, against them especially. We have been punished before with that and we cannot do it.”

Falling further behind Liverpool, who scored twice in stoppage time to beat Brentford earlier in the day, will be a bitter pill for Arteta to swallow. Arsenal are now six points behind the Reds, who have a game in hand.

Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz netted to put the north Londoners in control against Villa. And Arsenal nearly salvaged all three points late on, but Havertz was penalised for a handball after deflecting Mikel Merino’s effort into the net, before Merino saw a powerful strike saved onto the woodwork.

Although Arteta could not hide his frustration at two lapses in concentration at the back, he still rallied his troops with words of encouragement ahead of a vital two-and-a-half-week period which will include six games of Premier League, Carabao Cup and Champions League action.

“I’m so proud of the way we played, how dominant, how fluid we were and how much we put into it,” he continued. “We played three games in six days. I’m so proud of them, but at the same time so disappointed. We deserve more. We didn’t get it, and we are sad because of that.”



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