Mikel Arteta claimed his Arsenal side lacked “courage” after fading from a winning position to draw with Premier League rivals Liverpool on Sunday.
The Gunners twice took the lead against the Reds, with Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino hitting either side of Virgil van Dijk’s equaliser, but Mohamed Salah saved the visitors with an 81st minute effort to ensure the points were shared.
While arsenal welcomed back Saka and Jurrien Timber from injury, they were still without the suspended William Saliba next to Riccardo Calafiori, who received a blow during the Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Gabriel Magalhaes had to be substituted early in the second half when Jakub Kiwior came off the bench, while 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly played the last 15 minutes when Salah struck.
Speaking after the match, Arteta he said Sky Sports: “Very proud of the team. The courage, the quality, the dominance in the game we wanted to play especially in the first half. It should have been a bigger score in the first half, they came out in the second half and we had no courage.
“We deserved to win the game. We were the better team. Learning from the two goals, the second one is a transition moment that we have to finish in the last third. You can’t give that away.
“We were clear about what we had to do and the execution, determination and aggression with and without the ball was very good. Some moments when we should have put the ball in the net.
“In the first phase we needed more courage to play. We created great opportunities.”
The draw leaves Arsenal third at the top of the table Premier Leaguefive points from the leader Manchester City and four from Liverpool.
